Critical heat flux in subcooled flow boiling with water in a tube with axially nonuniform heating

Critical heat flux (CHF) in subcooled flow boiling under axially nonuniform heating conditions was experimentally investigated using a tube heated with a dc power source. The thickness of the tube wall in the axial direction was varied to attain axially nonuniform heating. The different thicknesses, therefore, separated the tube into regions of high heat flux and regions of low heat flux. The lengths of these regions of the tube were also varied to study the effect on the CHF. The objective of this system is to initiate boiling in the high-heat-flux region, thus increasing heat transfer, and to interrupt the bubble boundary layer in the low-heat-flux region. Because it is the initiation of boiling that increases heat transfer, the performance of such a system is linked to its effectiveness in repeatedly interrupting and re-establishing the bubble boundary layer. Our experiments, involving tubes that had sections of different thicknesses and different lengths, showed that when the heat flux in the low-heat-flux region was below the net vapor generation (NVG) heat flux, this system enhanced the CHF, but not when it was above the NVG. Also, for relatively short low-heat-flux regions, the CHF was not enhanced, presumably because there was insufficient time to interrupt the bubble boundary layer. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Jpn Res, 27(2): 169–178, 1998     

Transient behavior of subcooled forced-convective boiling with twisted tape inserts

An internal twisted tape, when used to initiate subcooled swirling flow boiling, is a very effective method of cooling components which are subject to a high heat flux in a fusion reactor. In this study, the swirled channel was constructed using a copper cylinder (8 mm inside diam., 190 mm outside diam., and 100 mm heating length), which was equipped with a twisted aluminum tape (approx. 0.5 mm thick and 7.5 mm wide). The values of the tape-twist ratio y (the length required to complete a single 180-degree twist of the tape divided by the inside tube diameter) were approximately 1.8, 2.5, 3.2, 4.2, and infinity. Critical heat flux dependence on flow velocity and tape-twist was determined. Heating and cooling processes of large thermal capacity and inertia were used to obtain the wall heat flux via quasi-steady conditions, and several results for these limited cases are presented in the transition region near atmospheric pressure. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Heat Trans Jpn Res 25(3): 178–191, 1996     

CHF in a Circumferentially Nonuniformly Heated Tube Under Low-Pressure and Low-Mass-Flux Condition (Influence of Inclined Angles Under High-Heat-Flux Condition)

Critical heat flux (CHF) is an important design factor for boiling two-phase flow equipment, such as boilers and others. In actual boiling systems, the water tube suffers from the nonuniform heating and/or tube inclinations. The objective of this investigation is to understand the influence of tube inclination on CHF characteristics under such high-heat-flux conditions. The experimental investigation was conducted with a forced convective boiling system by using a uniformly heated tube and a nonuniformly heated tube set at arbitrary inclination angles ?. The obtained CHF was strongly influenced by the circumferential location of local maximum heat flux point and tube inclination. In the case of the normal tube, the CHF always occurred by the liquid film dryout at the top of the tube. In the case of the nonuniformly heated tube, the influence of the inclination on the CHF characteristics strongly depended on the circumferential heat flux distribution. When the the heat flux at the bottom was higher than that at the top, two types of CHF mechanism, namely, low-quality CHF upstream of the test section under high-mass-flux condition, and liquid film dryout at the tube exit under low-mass-flux condition, were observed. When the heat flux at the top was higher than that at the bottom, intermittent dryout was observed as the dryout mechanism. These CHF characteristics could be categorized by using the CHF ratio against the value of the vertical upward flow with the modified Froude number, which corresponded to the influence factor of disturbance wave.     

Photographic study of high-flux subcooled flow boiling and critical heat flux

This study examines both high-flux flow boiling and critical heat flux (CHF) under highly subcooled conditions using FC-72 as working fluid. Experiments were performed in a horizontal flow channel that was heated along its bottom wall. High-speed video imaging and photomicrographic techniques were used to capture interfacial features and reveal the sequence of events leading to CHF. At about 80% of CHF, bubbles coalesced into oblong vapor patches while sliding along the heated wall. These patches grew in size with increasing heat flux, eventually evolving into a fairly continuous vapor layer that permitted liquid contact with the wall only in the wave troughs between vapor patches. CHF was triggered when this liquid contact was finally halted. These findings prove that the CHF mechanism for subcooled flow boiling is consistent with the interfacial lift-off mechanism proposed previously for saturated flow boiling.     

Theoretical research of critical heat flux in subcooled impingement boiling on the stagnation zone

A new mechanism model for determination of the critical heat flux (CHF) in subcooled impingement boiling on the stagnation zone is proposed in this paper. It is based on the combination of the Helmholtz instability theory of macrolayer and the model of bubble induced turbulent heat transfer in subcooled impingement boiling. A semi-theoretical and semi-empirical correlation and its nondimensional form of the CHF for subcooled jet impingement boiling on the stagnation zone are also derived. Under the circumstances of CHF, the bubble induced turbulent heat transfer coefficient gets doubled as compared to the single-phase laminar heat transfer coefficient according to the theoretical model and the experimental data. And this kind of bubble induced turbulent heat transfer enhancing effect can be considered as a fixed ratio. The theoretical analysis result for the present case is successfully verified by the experimental result obtained on the smooth heating surface. Through the discussions, it is obtained that the CHF ratio of the subcooled jet impingement boiling against the saturated jet impingement boiling is theoretically related to the surface condition of the heater and the properties and impact velocity of the working fluid.     

Subcooled flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics of R-134a in a narrow annular duct

Experiments are conducted here to investigate how the channel size affects the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics of refrigerant R-134a in a horizontal narrow annular duct. The gap of the duct is fixed at 1.0 and 2.0 mm in this study. From the measured boiling curves, the temperature undershoot at ONB is found to be relatively significant for the subcooled flow boiling of R-134a in the duct. The R-134a subcooled flow boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with a reduction in the gap size, but decreases with an increase in the inlet liquid subcooling. Besides, raising the imposed heat flux can cause a substantial increase in the subcooled boiling heat transfer coefficient. However, the effects of the refrigerant mass flux and saturated temperature on the boiling heat transfer coefficient are small in the narrow duct. Visualization of the subcooled flow boiling processes reveals that the bubbles are suppressed to become smaller and less dense by raising the refrigerant mass flux and inlet subcooling. Moreover, raising the imposed heat flux significantly increases the bubble population, coalescence and departure frequency. The increase in the bubble departure frequency by reducing the duct size is due to the rising wall shear stress of the liquid flow, and at a high imposed heat flux many bubbles generated from the cavities on the heating surface tend to merge together to form big bubbles. Correlation for the present subcooled flow boiling heat transfer data of R-134a in the narrow annular duct is proposed. Additionally, the present data for some quantitative bubble characteristics such as the mean bubble departure diameter and frequency and the active nucleation site density are also correlated.     

Measurement of surface dryout near heating surface at high heat fluxes in subcooled pool boiling

The authors have conducted measurements of liquid–vapor behavior in the vicinity of a heating surface for saturated and subcooled pool boiling on an upward-facing copper surface by using a conductance probe method. A previous paper [A. Ono, H. Sakashita, Liquid–vapor structure near heating surface at high heat flux in subcooled pool boiling, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 50 (2007) 3481–3489] reported that thicknesses of a liquid rich layer (a so-called macrolayer) forming in subcooled boiling are comparable to or thicker than those formed near the critical heat flux (CHF) in saturated boiling. This paper examines the dryout behavior of the heating surface by utilizing the feature that a thin conductance probe placed very close to the heating surface can detect the formation and dryout of the macrolayer. It was found that the dryout of the macrolayer formed beneath a vapor mass occurs in the latter half of the hovering period of the vapor mass. Two-dimensional measurements conducted at 121 grid points in a 1-mm × 1-mm area at the center of the heating surface showed that the dryout commences at specific areas and spreads over the heating surface as the heat flux approaches the CHF. Furthermore, transient measurements of wall void fractions from nucleate boiling to transition boiling were conducted under the transient heating mode, showing that the wall void fraction has small values (<10%) in the nucleate boiling region, and then steeply increases in the transition boiling region. These findings strongly suggest that the macrolayer dryout model is the most appropriate model of the CHF for saturated and subcooled pool boiling of water on upward facing copper surfaces.     

Micro‐bubble emission boiling from horizontal and vertical surfaces to subcooled parallel flow water

Heat removal of more than 10 MW/m² in heat flux has been required in high‐heat‐generation equipment in nuclear fusion reactors. In some conditions of water subcooling and velocity, there appears an extraordinary high heat flux boiling in the transition boiling region. This boiling regime is called micro‐bubble emission boiling (MEB) because many micro‐bubbles are spouted from the heat transfer surface accompanying a huge sound. The study intent is to obtain heat transfer performance of MEB in horizontal and vertical heated surfaces to parallel flow of subcooled water, comparing with CHF of this system. Three types of MEB with different heat transfer performance and bubble behavior are observed according to the flow velocity and liquid subcooling. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 32(2): 130–140, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10077     

Axial developments of interfacial area and void concentration profiles in subcooled boiling flow of water

Axial developments of the local void fraction, interfacial area concentration and bubble Sauter mean diameter were measured in subcooled boiling flow of water in a vertical internally heated annulus using the double-sensor conductivity probe technique. Measurements were performed under varying conditions of heat flux, inlet liquid velocity and inlet liquid temperature. A total of 10 data sets were acquired. Based on these measurements with the previous data obtained in the present test loop, the influence of flow condition on the profiles of local two-phase flow parameters was discussed. The measured average void fraction and interfacial area concentration were compared with the predictions by existing correlations for drift-flux parameters and interfacial area concentration. Also, the recently proposed bubble layer thickness model in subcooled boiling was evaluated for the measurement data.     

Interfacial heat transfer during subcooled flow boiling

In order to develop a mechanistic model for the subcooled flow boiling process, the key issues which must be addressed are wall heat flux partitioning and interfacial (condensation) heat transfer. The sink term in the two-fluid models for void fraction prediction is provided by the condensation rate at the vapor-liquid interface. Low pressure subcooled flow boiling experiments, using water, were performed using a vertical flat plate heater to investigate the bubble collapse process. A high-speed CCD camera was used to record the bubble collapse in the bulk subcooled liquid. Based on the analyses of these digitized images, bubble collapse rates and the associated heat transfer rate were determined. The experimental data were in turn used to correlate the bubble collapse rate and the interfacial heat transfer rate. These correlations are functions of bubble Reynolds number, liquid Prandtl number, Jacob number, and Fourier number. The correlations account for both the effect of forced convection heat transfer and thickening of the thermal boundary layer as the vapor bubble condenses which in turn makes the condensation heat transfer time dependent. Comparison of the measured experimental data with those predicted from the correlations show that predictions are well within ±25% of the experimentally measured values. These correlations have also been compared with those available in the literature.     

低流速净蒸汽产生点模型预测过冷沸腾空泡率

空泡率是汽液两相流动的基本参数之一,而已有过冷沸腾空泡率计算方法研究以高质量流速为主,且大量文献报道现有空泡率模型难以适用于低流速过冷沸腾工况。本文基于低流速过冷沸腾净蒸汽产生点(NVG)理论模型,进一步建立了计算过冷沸腾空泡率的分布拟合模型。在较宽广的压力、质量流速、热流密度和流道尺寸范围内将模型计算结果与现有空泡率实验数据进行了比较,低流速工况下该模型与实验数据符合良好,表明该模型可适用于低流速过冷沸腾工况。     

Influences of bubble formation on different types of heat exchanger fouling

In this paper, a systematic comparison is performed to investigate fouling of suspended particles under forced convective and subcooled flow boiling heat transfer. For this purpose, two different types of fouling are separately considered: crystallization fouling of dissolved CaSO₄ particles in water and particulate fouling of suspended Al₂O₃ particles in n–heptane. The effect of hydraulic parameters such as fluid velocity and also bubble generation under subcooled flow boiling are studied. Results of the experiments demonstrate that creation of boiling condition in the heat exchanger has opposite influence in these two types of fouling. It means that bubble generation on the heat transfer surface promotes scale formation under crystallization fouling. This is due to the fact that increased bubble generation creates higher supersaturation beneath the vapor bubble, therefore, increasing the crystal concentration in the boundary layer. On the other hand, boiling condition inhibits the scale formation under particulate fouling because the suspended particles are repelled from the boundary layer by the strong turbulences created by the swarm of bubbles.     

Subcooled flow boiling heat transfer of R-407C and associated bubble characteristics in a narrow annular duct

An experiment is conducted here to investigate how the channel size affects the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer and the associated bubble characteristics of refrigerant R-407C in a horizontal narrow annular duct with the gap of the duct fixed at 1.0 and 2.0 mm. The measured boiling curves indicate that the temperature overshoot at ONB is relatively significant for the subcooled flow boiling of R-407C in the duct. Besides, the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with a reduction in the duct gap, but decreases with an increase in the inlet liquid subcooling. Moreover, raising the heat flux imposed on the duct can cause a significant increase in the boiling heat transfer coefficients. However, the effects of the refrigerant mass flux and saturated temperature on the boiling heat transfer coefficient are slighter. Visualization of the subcooled flow boiling processes in the duct reveals that the bubbles are suppressed to become smaller and less dense by raising the refrigerant mass flux and inlet subcooling. Raising the imposed heat flux, however, produces positive effects on the bubble population, coalescence and departure frequency. Meanwhile, the present heat transfer data for R-407C are compared with the R-134a data measured in the same duct and with some existing correlations. We also propose empirical correlations for the present data for the R-407C subcooled flow boiling heat transfer and some quantitative bubble characteristics such as the mean bubble departure diameter and frequency and the active nucleation site density.     

Numerical investigation of subcooled flow boiling in segmented finned microchannels

Bubble growth behavior and heat transfer characteristics during subcooled flow boiling in segmented finned microchannels have been numerically investigated. Simulations have been performed for a single row of segmented finned microchannel and predicted results are compared with experimental investigations. Onset of nucleation, formation of bubbles, their growth and movements have been investigated for different values of applied heat flux. Mechanism of bubble expansion without clogging resulting in enhanced heat transfer in segmented finned microchannels has been explained. Temperature and pressure fluctuations during subcooled flow boiling condition have been investigated. It is observed that at high heat flux, thin liquid film trapped between the bubble and channel wall is evaporated leading to localized heating effect. Predicted flow patterns are similar to experimental results. However, simulations over predict the bubble growth rate and heat transfer coefficient.     

Effect of tube bundles on nucleate boiling and critical heat flux

In order to elucidate boiling heat transfer characteristics for each tube and the critical heat flux (CHF) for tube bundles, an experimental investigation of pool and flow boiling of Freon-113 at 0.1 MPa was performed using two typical tube arrangements. A total of fifty heating tubes of 14 mm diameter, equipped with thermocouples and cartridge heaters, were arrayed at pitches of 18.2 and 21.0 mm to simulate both square in-line and equilateral staggered bundles. For the flow boiling tests the same bundles as were used in pool boiling were installed in a vertical rectangular channel, to which the fluid was supplied with an approach velocity varying from 0.022 to 0.22 m/s. It was found in this study that the boiling heat transfer coefficient of each tube in a bundle was higher than that for an isolated single tube in pool boiling. This enhancement increases for tubes at higher locations, but decreases as heat flux is increased. At heat fluxes exceeding certain values, the heat transfer coefficient becomes the same as that for an isolated tube. As the heat flux approaches the CHF, flow pulsations occurred in the pool boiling experiments although the heat transfer coefficient was invariant even under this situation. The approach velocity has an appreciable effect on heat transfer up to a certain level of heat flux. In this range of heat flux, the heat transfer coefficient exceeds the values observed for pool boiling. An additive method with two contributions, i.e., single phase convection and boiling, was used to predict the heat transfer coefficient for bundles. The predicted results showed reasonable agreement with the measured results. The critical heat flux in tube bundles tended to increase as more bubbles were rising through the tube clearance. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Jpn Res, 27(4): 312–325, 1998     

CFD simulation of upward subcooled boiling flow of refrigerant-113 using the two-fluid model

In this paper, a modified two-fluid model considering temperature dependent properties and saturation temperature variation was adapted to accurately simulate the process of subcooled boiling flow. The calculations were performed by a CFD code CFX-10 with an extended user defined FORTRAN. The refrigerant-113 boiling flow experiments in a vertical concentric annulus from reference were used to validate the modified two-fluid model of subcooled boiling flow. Compared with the previous published predicted results, the results in the present model show better and reasonable approximation with the experimental data, including the local distribution of void fraction, liquid temperature, axial liquid and vapor velocity. Results show that with increasing the wall heat flux, the bubble boundary layer will become thicker, the liquid temperature gradient at the near-wall region will be smoother and the profiles of axial liquid velocity will gradually depart from those of single-phase flow. Decreasing the inlet liquid subcooling or the mass flux will obtain the same results.     

A forced convection subcooled boiling model for nonuniform axial heat fluxes

The modeling of convective subcooled boiling of water flowing in round tubes subjected to nonuniform axial heat fluxes is described. The effects of different axial heat flux profiles are modeled using a local hypothesis; i.e. flow and thermal development are assumed to occur very rapidly in the subcooled boiling (SCB) flow regime. A computer code has been developed to predict the pressure drop, heat transfer coefficient and wall temperature for nonuniform axial heat fluxes, starting with a well-validated code for uniform axial heat fluxes. The predictions for some common nonuniform axial heat profiles are compared to the uniform heat flux case.     

Numerical study of patterns and influencing factors on flow boiling in vertical tubes by thermal LBM simulation

Heat transfer and flow pattern of flow boiling in vertical tube are investigated numerically based on the phase-change Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) which includes an improved pseudo-potential LB model and a thermal LB model. Two-dimensional numerical simulations are carried out under constant heat flux conditions for the first time. The processes of growth, slippage, detachment and coalescence of the bubbles are captured to verify the correctness of the model. The effects of gravity, contact angle and wall superheat on bubble departure diameter and nucleation waiting time are illustrated. The multiple flow patterns, single-phase flow, bubble flow, slug flow and DNB have been illustrated with the behaviors of bubble nucleation, growth, departure, and coalescence. Some basic features of flow boiling have been clearly observed in the simulation. The influences of several factors such as heat flux, Reynolds number, the width of flow channel, and the width of nucleation point on flow boiling especially on the point of DNB are investigated. The numerical results show that the DNB could be avoided by reducing the heating density, increasing the Reynolds number, increasing the width of the tube and reducing the heating concentration.     

Enhanced Heat Transfer of Shaker-Bored Piston Cooling Channel with Twisted Tape Insert

This experimental study investigates the heat transfer augmentation in a reciprocating anti-gravity open thermosyphon using a twisted tape insert with relevance to the “shaker-bored” piston cooling system for marine propulsive diesel engine. A selection of experimental data illustrates the interactive effects of inertial, reciprocating, and buoyancy forces on heat transfer in the anti-gravity open thermosyphon with and without a twisted tape insert for subcooled and superheated conditions. The impacts of gravitational buoyancy on heat transfer in the static plain thermosyphon tube are reversed from impairing to improving heat transfer when the flow condition yields from subcooled to superheated condition. In the static thermosyphon tube fitted with twisted tape insert and in the reciprocating thermosyphon tubes with and without twisted tape insert, the buoyancy interactions enhance heat transfer coefficients. Due to the isolated reciprocating force effect, heat transfer coefficients are initially impaired from the static levels at low pulsating numbers but recovered to be enhanced at high pulsating numbers in the reciprocating plain thermosyphon tube. For the reciprocating thermosyphon tube fitted with a twisted tape insert, the isolated reciprocating force effect consistently improves heat transfer. The impacts of isolated reciprocating force and buoyancy interaction on heat transfer are Reynolds number-dependent. Heat transfer coefficients in the reciprocating thermosyphon tube fitted with the twisted tape insert could be augmented to the range of 1.2–6 times of plain tube levels. A set of empirical heat transfer correlations that considers the synergistic effects of inertial force, reciprocating force, and buoyancy interaction in the reciprocating anti-gravity open thermosyphon tube fitted with a twisted tape insert is developed to assist the design activity of the piston-cooling system.     

Critical heat flux for subcooled flow boiling in micro-channel heat sinks

Critical heat flux (CHF) was measured and examined with high-speed video for subcooled flow boiling in micro-channel heat sinks using HFE 7100 as working fluid. High subcooling was achieved by pre-cooling the working fluid using a secondary low-temperature refrigeration system. The high subcooling greatly reduced both bubble departure diameter and void fraction, and precluded flow pattern transitions beyond the bubbly regime. CHF was triggered by vapor blanket formation along the micro-channel walls despite the presence of abundant core liquid, which is consistent with the mechanism of Departure from Nucleate Boiling (DNB). CHF increased with increasing mass velocity and/or subcooling and decreasing hydraulic diameter for a given total mass flow rate. A pre-mature type of CHF was caused by vapor backflow into the heat sink’s inlet plenum at low mass velocities and small inlet subcoolings, and was associated with significant fluctuations in inlet and outlet pressure, as well as wall temperature. A systematic technique is developed to modify existing CHF correlations to more accurately account for features unique to micro-channel heat sinks, including rectangular cross-section, three-sided heating, and flow interaction between micro-channels. This technique is shown to be successful at correlating micro-channel heat sink data corresponding to different hydraulic diameters, mass velocities and inlet temperatures.