An analytical approach to estimate local liquid heights in horizontal diabatic slug flow

As the intermittent (slug) flow pattern was recently shown to be, along with the stratified flow regime, responsible for circumferential anisothermality of horizontal steam generating tubes operating at moderate steam qualities, the ability to estimate the local liquid levels in such tubes and to compare them with the position of the circumferentially maximum value of the externally applied heat loading appears to be of great practical importance for boiler designers. While the procedure of the estimation of minimum liquid heights (h_L) in horizontal stratified flows was suggested in previous papers, this study presents an analytical approach for engineering evaluations of h_L in the horizontal, diabatic slug flow pattern. It is, importantly, shown that the use of the stratified flow-based approach to evaluate h_L in slug flows results in the overestimation of actual liquid heights which may be detrimental for boiler tubes, especially under circumferentially nonuniform heat loading.