Rapid Generation Process of Superheated Steam Using a Water-Containing Porous Material

A simple method for the rapid generation of superheated steam using a water-containing porous material was proposed in a previous paper (Mori and Okuyama, 2007). The start-up and cut-off responses are of the second order, and the maximum energy utilization efficiency for input power is more than approximately 0.9. In the present paper, in order to clarify the mechanism of the rapid generation of superheated steam, the steam temperature, the temperature inside porous materials, and the surface roughness of porous materials have been measured. As a result, it is found that narrow space formed between heater and porous material caused by surface roughness of porous material is one of important factors to generate superheated steam rapidly.