Development of a mechanistic model for sliding bubbles growth prediction in subcooled boiling flow

Journal Article · Sat Apr 21 04:00:00 EDT 2018 · Applied Thermal Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.04.096· OSTI ID:1469326

Yoo, Junsoo ^[1]; Estrada-Perez, Carlos E. ^[2]; Hassan, Yassin A. ^[2]

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1. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
2. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering

In this paper, a new mechanistic model for predicting the growth of sliding bubbles in subcooled boiling flow has been developed. The basis of this model is the assumption that the fundamental heat transfer mechanisms acting on a stagnant bubble growing at a nucleation site can also be applied to the growth of sliding bubbles. The physical assumptions of the existing bubble growth models were modified to reflect the intrinsic physics associated with the sliding bubble growth. The heat transfer mechanisms considered are microlayer evaporation, evaporation of superheated liquid, and condensation. The present model has been successfully validated against a broad set of subcooled flow boiling data, generated by three separate research groups using different working fluids and different heater surfaces. The model successfully reproduced the sliding bubble growth dependencies on mass flux, wall superheat, and liquid subcooling level as observed in the experiments. Finally, on the other hand, in a few cases where the bubble growth inertia was substantially involved in the sliding bubble growth, the predictive ability was limited.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517; AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1469326
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1564525; OSTI ID: 23101883
• Report Number(s): INL/JOU-17-43749-Rev000
• Journal Information: Applied Thermal Engineering, Journal Name: Applied Thermal Engineering Vol. 138; ISSN 1359-4311
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
Sliding bubble growth
bubble growth model
subcooled boiling flow