Simulation of void fraction profile evolution in subcooled nucleate boiling flow in a vertical annulus using a bubble-tracking approach

A three-dimensional bubble-tracking model of subcooled nucleate boiling flow in a vertical channel at low-pressure conditions is proposed with specific application to the case of boiling in an annulus with a central heating rod. Vapour is distributed in the liquid in the form of individually tracked bubbles. The overall behaviour of the liquid–vapour system results from motion, interaction, coalescence and boiling mechanisms prescribed mostly at the level of bubbles. Bubbles are nucleated at nucleation sites randomly distributed over the heated surface. After nucleation, bubbles slide on the heated wall, detach and then migrate into the lower-temperature region away from the heated surface, where they condense. The proposed model was applied to experiments on subcooled boiling from Purdue University (USA). Experimental and calculated void fraction radial profiles at different axial locations are compared.