Numerical modeling of boiling heat transfer in porous media

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:418146

Shi, B; Jones, B G ^[1]; Pan, C ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
2. National Tsinghua Univ., Hsinchu (Taiwan, Province of China). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics

Theoretical models were developed and validated to investigate boiling heat transfer in porous layers with and without the presence of chimneys. The critical heat flux and distributions of temperature, liquid saturation, liquid and vapor pressures, and liquid and vapor velocities were predicted numerically under typical PWR conditions. The results indicate that a porous layer produces a higher heat transfer coefficient in the nucleate boiling regime, as is well-known, and could potentially yield a much higher critical heat flux than a plain surface does. Moreover, a chimney-type porous layer can have a better thermal performance, i.e., heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux than a homogeneous one, primarily due to the presence of chimneys providing pathways for vapor to escape from the porous layer with less resistance.

• OSTI ID: 418146
• Report Number(s): CONF-960815--; ISBN 0-7918-1513-7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
BOILING
CORROSION PRODUCTS
HEAT TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
POROUS MATERIALS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION