Periodic boiling in parallel micro-channels at low vapor quality

Based on experimental investigations the present study evaluates instability and heat transfer phenomenon under condition of periodic flow boiling of water and ethanol in parallel triangular micro-channels. Tests were performed in the range of hydraulic diameter 100–220 μm, mass flux 32–200 kg/m² s, heat flux 120–270 kW/m², vapor quality x = 0.01–0.08. The period between successive events depends on the boiling number and decreases with an increase in the boiling number. The initial film thickness decreases with increasing heat flux. When the liquid film reached the minimum initial film thickness CHF regime occurred. Temporal variations of pressure drop, fluid and heater temperatures were periodic. Oscillation frequency is the same for the pressure drop, for the fluid temperature at the outlet manifold, and for the mean and maximum heater temperature fluctuations. All these fluctuations are in phase. The CHF phenomenon is different from that observed in a single channel of conventional size. A key difference between micro-channel heat sink and single conventional channel is amplification of parallel-channel instability prior to CHF. The dimensionless experimental values of the heat transfer coefficient are presented as the Nusselt number dependence on the Eotvos number and the boiling number.     

Explosive boiling of a liquid droplet

A mathematical model describing growth of an internal vapor bubble produced by homogeneous nucleation within a liquid droplet during explosive boiling is presented. Existing experimental results for explosive boiling of superheated droplets confirm the predictions of the model. The difference between the present model and the classical theories of bubble growth is discussed.     

Simulation of flow boiling in micro-channels: Effects of inlet flow rate and hot-spots

This paper presents the findings of a numerical study on the flow boiling in a micro-channel heat sink. The Navier-Stokes equations, energy equation, and the continuity equation are solved in a finite-volume framework using the front-tracking method. The numerical method is validated by comparison with the experimental results for a slug bubble growth, and vertical flow boiling. The numerical method is then used to study the effect of changing the inflow mass-velocity on the heat transfer coefficient, bubble size distribution, and the bubble nucleation frequency for a constant heat flux. The mean heat transfer coefficient of all the cases is found to be nearly twice that of the single-phase heat transfer coefficient. The bubble nucleation frequency is found to increase monotonically with the inflow mass-velocity. The bubble size distribution along the channel is found to become flatter as the mass-velocity is increased. We identify three distinct phases of the bubble evolution, namely the initial rapid growth phase, the boiling dominant phase, and finally the condensation dominant phase. Subsequently, the numerical method is used to study the effect of having a hot-spot near the bubble nucleation site on the heat transfer characteristics. It is found that the bubble nucleation frequency increases and the bubbles’ maximum volume decreases as the intensity of the hot-spot is increased for a fixed inlet flow rate. It is also observed that the average heat transfer coefficient does not change significantly with changing the intensity of the hot-spot, and that the bubble size distribution along the channel becomes flatter as the intensity of the hot-spot is increased.     

Heat transfer and fluid dynamics of air–water two-phase flow in micro-channels

Heat transfer, pressure drop, and void fraction were simultaneously measured for upward heated air–water non-boiling two-phase flow in 0.51 mm ID tube to investigate thermo–hydro dynamic characteristics of two-phase flow in micro-channels. At low liquid superficial velocity j_l frictional pressure drop agreed with Mishima–Hibiki’s correlation, whereas agreed with Chisholm–Laird’s correlation at relatively high j_l. Void fraction was lower than the homogeneous model and conventional empirical correlations. To interpret the decrease of void fraction with decrease of tube diameter, a relation among the void fraction, pressure gradient and tube diameter was derived. Heat transfer coefficient fairly agreed with the data for 1.03 and 2.01 mm ID tubes when j_l was relatively high. But it became lower than that for larger diameter tubes when j_l was low. Analogy between heat transfer and frictional pressure drop was proved to hold roughly for the two-phase flow in micro-channel. But satisfactory relation was not obtained under the condition of low liquid superficial velocity.     

Steam chugging in a boiling water reactor pressure-suppression system

Results of a transient analysis predicting the general characteristics of steam chugging compare well with the results of two large scale experiments: GKM II, test 21 and GKSS, test 16. Predicted fundamental periods of chugging are within 5 and 16 per cent of the respective experimental values. The results of the analysis include effects of air in the drywell, momentum loss and heat transfer in the condensation pipe, direct contact condensation heat transfer at the gas-water interface and momentum and heat transfer in the wetwell water pool. Bubble shape is calculated in two-dimensional cylindrical coordinates.Required inputs to the analysis include the geometry, initial conditions and constants to determine both the steam inlet mass flowrate to the drywell as a function of time and conduction heat transfer through the wall of the condensation pipe. There are no arbitrary free parameters which must be specified to predict specific experiments. Rather, the analysis is based on fundamental physical phenomena, experimental coefficients documented for general heat transfer and fluid mechanics characteristics and standard analytical techniques.The random nature of steam chugging observed in some experiments is partially explained by predicted regimes of chugging and changes in the maximum extent of a bubble below the condensation pipe exit during each regime.     

Heat transfer in pool boiling of ammonia/water mixture

The nonazeotropic binary mixtures such as, methanol/water, ethanol/water and ammonia/water, have variable boiling and dew points, depending on the combination of substance and those mass fraction. It is expected to have a higher performance as a result of decreasing the thermodynamically irreversible loss, when there is a relevant mass fraction. Therefore, ammonia/water mixture is expected to use as working fluid in small temperature difference power generation cycles and absorption refrigeration cycles. However, few experiments were carried out for measuring heat transfer coefficient for ammonia/water mixture in the world. An experimental study has been carried out to measure boiling heat transfer coefficient of an ammonia/water mixture on a horizontal heated surface at low pressure of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.7 MPa and at low mass fraction of 0 < C < 0.27 and at high pressure 0.7, 1.0 and 1.5 MPa and at mass fraction of 0.5 < C < 1.0 and at heat flux under critical heat flux the heat transfer coefficient are compared with existing correlations prediction and a revised correlation can be proposed to predict them well.     

Critical heat flux of saturated convective boiling on uniformly heated plates in a parallel flow

Employing saturated water and R-113 at atmospheric pressure, experiments are made for critical heat flux (CHF) on a uniformly heated plate of 10, 15 and 20 mm in length submerged parallel to a uniform liquid flow with velocity of 1.5–10 m/s and the data of CHF obtained are successfully correlated by a generalized equation. In addition, it is shown that existing data of CHF for acetone, toluene, monoisopropylbiphenyl and water flowing through internally heated annular channels of very small I/d_he, where I is the axial length and d_he the heated equivalent diameter, agree well with the above-mentioned correlation.     

Pool boiling from GEWA surfaces in water and R-113

Pool boiling heat transfer measurements are reported for water and R-113 with several horizontal cylindrical test sections: plain, T-finned GEWA-T (with various gaps) and standard low fin GEWA-K. With R-113 the enhancement is a well-behaved function ofS _T , reaching a maximum of 2 atS _T = 0.25 mm. With distilled water, the performance depends in a more complex way on gap width. The maximum enhancement of 1.6 is obtained atS _T =0.35 mm. Visual observations of the actual test sections and models indicated a complex liquid-vapor exchange mechanism. Bubble generation with adjacent liquid feed was observed at random locations around the periphery of the test section. A semi-theoretical equation was developed which correlates the experimental data quite well.

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Sieden bei freier Konvektion von GEWA-Oberflächen in Wasser und R-113

Zusammenfassung Es wird über Wärmeübergangsmessungen beim Sieden unter freier Konvektion mit Wasser und R-113 an verschiedenen zylindrischen, horizontal angeordneten Versuchsobjekten berichtet, die folgende Oberflächenbeschaffenheiten hatten: glatt, T-berippt GEWA-T (mit unterschiedlichen Abständen) und serienmäßig mit niedrigen Rippen versehen GEWA-K. Bei R-113 ist die Verbesserung im Wärmeübergang eine erwartungsgemäße Funktion vonS _T , die einen Maximalwert von 2 beiS _T =0,25 mm erreicht. Bei destilliertem Wasser hängt das Verhalten in komplizierter For von der Lückenweite ab. Die maximale Verbesserung liegt bei 1,6 und wird fürS _T =0,35 mm erreicht. Optische Beobachtungen an den Versuchsobjekten und Modellen zeigten einen komplizierten Flüssigkeits-Dampf-Austauschmechanismus. Es wurde Blasenbildung mit benachbartem Flüssigkeitszustrom an willkürlich wechselnden Stellen um die Peripherie des Versuchsobjektes beobachtet. Eine halbtheoretische Gleichung wurde entwickelt, welche die experimentellen Daten gut wiedergibt.

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Nomenclature A surface area - A _t tunnel/channel wall area - A liquid film area - C _q constant in natural convection correlation - C _T constant in GEWA-T Model - D outside diameter - D _b base diameter (fin root diameter) - D _tc diameter at thermocouple location - h heat transfer coefficient - h _fg latent heat - h _t heat transfer coefficient at the tunnel wall - k _l thermal conductivity of liquid - L length of test section - N _A number of active nucleation sites - ql latent heat transfer rate - q heat flux - q_ex natural convection heat flux - q latent heat flux - S _t GEWA-T gap width - T wall-minus-saturation temperature difference - T _gn vapor temperature - T _s saturation temperature - T _w wall temperature - x, y constants in natural convection correlation - liquid film thickness - surface tension Dedicated to Prof. Dr.-Ing. U. Grigull's 75th birthday     

Nucleate boiling of water from plain and structured surfaces

Heat transfer from plain surface and from surfaces with distinct nucleation sites has been investigated under saturated pool boiling condition. Surfaces have been prepared with regular array of discrete nucleation sites formed by micro-drilling. Distilled water has been used as the boiling liquid. Out of various available correlations, Rohsenow correlation [W.M. Rohsenow, A method of correlating heat transfer data for surface boiling of liquids, Trans. ASME 74 (1952) 969–976] gives best agreement with the experimental data from plain surface at low degree of superheat. A mechanistic model also provides a good trend matching with the same experimental data. With the introduction of artificial nucleation sites substantial augmentation in heat transfer for distilled water compared to the plane surface has been noted. Continuous increase in nucleation site density increases the rate of heat transfer with a diminishing trend of enhancement. A correlation similar to that of Yamagata et al. [K. Yamagata, F. Hirano, K. Nishiwaka, H. Matsouka, Nucleate boiling of water on the horizontal heating surface, Mem. Fac. Eng. Kyushu 15 (1955) 98] has been developed to fit the experimental data of plane surface. Modification of the same correlation to take care of the nucleation site density has been developed and used to predict the experimental data from augmented surfaces.     

Bubble growth in saturated pool boiling in water and surfactant solution

The presence of surfactant additives in water was found to enhance the boiling heat transfer significantly. The objective of the present investigation is to compare the bubble growth in water to that of a surfactant solution with negligible environmental impact. The study was conducted at two values of heat fluxes to clarify the effect of the heat flux on the dynamics of bubble nucleation. The bubble growth under condition of pool boiling in water and non-ionic surfactant solution was studied using high speed video technique. The bubble generation was studied on a horizontal flat surface; and the natural roughness of the surface was used to produce the bubbles.     

Experimental investigation of the Cu/R141b nanofluids on the evaporation/boiling heat transfer characteristics for surface with capillary micro-channels

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the heat transfer characteristic of a vertical copper plate with rectangular micro-channels. In this research, Cu/R141b nanofluids were used as the working fluid. Three different volume concentrations—0.001, 0.01, and 0.1 %—of Cu nanoparticles with an average diameter of 20 nm dispersed in R141b were prepared. Experiments were performed to measure thermal resistance of the microchannel surface under a steady operating pressure range of 0.86 × 10⁵ Pa to 2 × 10⁵ Pa. Thermal resistance weakened with addition of nanoparticles into the base fluid. The maximum reduction effect of the thermal resistance was 50 %, which corresponds to 0.01 % volume concentration of nanofluid at low operating pressure. The operating pressure significantly affects thermal performance of the microchannel surface. This paper also studied heat transfer characteristics for a Cu nanoparticle-coated surface with rectangular microchannels, which were produced by heating in different volume concentrations from 0.001 to 0.1 %. Nanoparticle layer on the micro-channel surface is responsible for enhanced heat transfer of nanofluids with 0.001 and 0.01 % volume concentrations.     

Explosive thermal interactions between molten lava and water

The most effective volcanic eruptions are the phreatomagmatic explosions. In such eruptions, magma and groundwater come into contact with each other, leading to explosions. A reproduction of such explosive interactions between lava (produced by remelting of volcanic rocks) and water in the laboratory was carried out, in which water was injected into molten lava. The amount of lava that was involved in the interactions, the so-called interactive lava mass, was determined. The influences of chemical composition and temperature of the melt and the injection velocity of water were also investigated.

Experiments show that an enhancement of the injection velocity of the water leads to more violent explosions. This is obviously due to an enlargement of the mixing region between water and molten lava in the crucible. Raising the temperature of the lava melt leads also to a greater impulse but not to an increase in the interactive masses as is found in connection with the water injection velocity. That means that the conversion ratio will be larger for higher lava temperatures than for lower ones.

By a fitting calculation with the measured curve of the force history of an explosive thermal interaction, the mass of water that was evaporated by the thermal interaction was estimated. In the same calculation the superheating temperature of this evaporated water can be determined. Furthermore, the amount of energy released by the explosive thermal interactions was calculated by using the measured impulse and determined fragment mass in fragmentation analysis.     

Impact of aspect ratio on flow boiling of water in rectangular microchannels

In this paper we focus on the impact of varying the aspect ratio of rectangular microchannels, on the overall pressure drop involving water boiling. An integrated system comprising micro-heaters, sensors and microchannels has been realized on (1 1 0) silicon wafers, following CMOS compatible process steps. Rectangular microchannels were fabricated with varying aspect ratios (width [W] to depth [H]) but constant hydraulic diameter of 142 ± 2 μm and length of 20 mm. The invariant nature of the hydraulic diameter is confirmed through two independent means: physical measurements using profilometer and by measuring the pressure drop in single-phase fluid flow. The experimental results show that the pressure drop for two-phase flow in rectangular microchannels experiences minima at an aspect ratio of about 1.6. The minimum is possibly due to opposing trends of frictional and acceleration pressure drops, with respect to aspect ratio. In a certain heat flux and mass flux range, it is observed that the two-phase pressure drop is lower than the corresponding single-phase value. This is the first study to investigate the effect of aspect ratio in two-phase flow in microchannels, to the best of our knowledge. The results are in qualitative agreement with annular flow model predictions. These results improve the possibility of designing effective heat-sinks based on two-phase fluid flow in microchannels.     

Analysis of the dryout incident in the Oskarshamn 2 boiling water reactor

Early in 1988 dryout of fuel rods occurred in the Oskarshamn 2 boiling water reactor. During refuelling it was observed that one corner rod was damaged in each of four fuel assemblies. These were of the SVEA design, SVEA being the trade name of the ABB Atom water cross fuel. The damaged zone covered about 180° of the rod periphery facing the corner sub-channel, over a stretch of about 30 cm with the upper end just below the last downstream spacer.

The dominating cause of the dryout was re-use of fuel channels for ordinary 64-rod fuel, which were located in neighbouring positions to the SVEA fuel. The re-used channels showed excessive bowing because of irradiation. This bow increased the water gap between the fuel assemblies, thus increasing the neutron moderation and the local power around one corner of the SVEA fuel. This and some other factors caused the local peaking factor for the corner rod to increase from 1.04 to 1.38.

The flow and power conditions in the damaged fuel assemblies were calculated by means of the POLCA, PHOENIX, CASMO and CONDOR computer programs. The results of these calculations were used as a base for dryout predictions, which were carried out employing eight correlations, which are available in the open literature. The Barnett, the Becker and the Bezrukow correlations predicted the dryout power within 1%. Also the Condie & Bengston, the EPRI and the XN-1 correlations yielded very good results with accuracies of, respectively, −5.1, −2.3 and 7.3%. The Becker, the XN-1, the Bezrukow and the Condie & Bengston correlations predicted dryout to occur inside of the observed dryout zone of 30 cm length.

It is concluded that the dryout in the Oskarshamn 2 nuclear power plant was not caused by any faults in the design or manufacture of the SVEA fuel, and that the re-use of fuel channels should not be permitted.     

Experimental study on nucleate boiling of water in vertical upflow and downflow

An experimental study on nucleate boiling of water was carried out using an annular vertical channel both in upflow and downflow. Heat transfer data are given in different conditions of subcooling and fluid velocity. Photographs show different behaviour of heat transfer mechanism.     

Natural convection boiling of water and surfactants in narrow horizontal annular channels

Natural convection boiling of water and surfactants at atmospheric pressure in narrow horizontal annular channels was studied experimentally in the range of Bond numbers Bo = 0.185–1.52. The flow pattern was visualized by high-speed video recording to identify the different regimes of boiling of water and surfactants. The channel length was 24 mm and 36 mm, the gap size was 0.45, 1.2, 2.2, and 3.7 mm. The heat flux was in the range of 20–500 kW/m², the concentration of surfactant solutions was varied from 10 to 600 ppm. For water boiling at Bond numbers Bo < 1 the CHF in restricted space is lower than that in unconfined space. This effect increases with increasing the channel length. For water at Bond number Bo = 1.52, boiling can almost be considered as unconfined. Additive of surfactant led to enhancement of heat transfer compared to water boiling in the same gap size, however, this effect decreased with decreasing gap size. For the same gap size, CHF in surfactant solutions was significantly lower than that in water. Hysteresis was observed for boiling in degraded surfactant solutions.     

Analytical study of mixed electroosmotic-pressure-driven flow in rectangular micro-channels

Operational state of many miniaturized devices deals with flow field in microchannels. Pressure-driven flow (PDF) and electroosmotic flow (EOF) can be recognized as the two most important types of the flow field in such channels. EOF has many advantages in comparison with PDF, such as being vibration free and not requiring any external mechanical pumps or moving parts. However, the disadvantages of this type of flow such as Joule heating, electrophoresis demixing, and not being suitable for mobile devices must be taken into consideration carefully. By using mixed electroosmotic/pressure-driven flow, the role of EOF in producing desired velocity profile will be reduced. In this way, the advantages of EOF can be exploited, and its disadvantages can be prevented. Induced pressure gradient can be utilized in order to control the separation in the system. Furthermore, in many complicated geometries such as T-shape microchannels, turns may induce pressure gradient to the electroosmotic velocity. While analytical formulas are completely essential for analysis and control of any industrial and laboratory microdevices, lack of such formulas in the literature for solving Poisson–Boltzmann equation and predicting electroosmotic velocity field in rectangular domains is evident. In the present study, first a novel method is proposed to solve Poisson–Boltzmann equation (PBE). Subsequently, this solution is utilized to find the electroosmotic and the mixed electroosmotic/pressure-driven velocity profile in a rectangular domain of the microchannels. To demonstrate the accuracy of the presented analytical method in solving PBE and finding electroosmotic velocity, a general nondimensional example is analyzed, and the results are compared with the solution of boundary element method. Additionally, the effects of different nondimensional parameters and also aspect ratio of channels on the electroosmotic part of the flow field will be investigated.     

Hydrodynamics and boiling phenomena of water droplets impinging on hot solid

The collision of single water droplets with a hot Inconel 625 alloy surface was investigated by a two-directional flash photography technique using two digital still cameras and three flash units. The experiments were conducted under the following conditions: the pre-impact diameters of the droplets ranged from 0.53 to 0.60 mm, the impact velocities ranged from 1.7 m/s to 4.1 m/s, and the solid surface temperatures ranged from 170 °C to 500 °C. When a droplet impacted onto the solid at a temperature of 170 °C, weak boiling was observed at the liquid/solid interface. At temperatures of 200 or 300 °C, numerous vapor bubbles were formed. Numerous secondary droplets then jetted upward from the deforming droplet due to the blowout of the vapor bubbles into the atmosphere. No secondary droplets were observed for a surface temperature of 500 °C at the low-impact Weber numbers (∼30) associated with the impact inertia of the droplets. Experiments using 2.5-mm-diameter droplets were also conducted. The dimensionless collision behaviors of large and small droplets were compared under the same Weber number conditions. At temperatures of less than or equal to 300 °C, the blowout of vapor bubbles occurred at early stages for a large droplet. At a surface temperature of 500 °C, the two dimensionless deformation behaviors of the droplets were very similar to each other.     

Experimental study of water droplet boiling on hot, non-porous surfaces

In this paper, the results of a series of experimental tests on single- and multi-droplet boiling systems are presented and discussed. The main objectives of the present study are: a) to investigate experimentally the effect of the boiling onset on the evaporation rate of water droplets; b) to measure the evolution of the solid surface temperature during evaporation; c) to examine the possibility of improving spray cooling efficiencies. The behavior of small water droplets (from 10 to 50 μl) gently deposited on hot, non-porous surfaces is observed. The evaporation of multi-droplet arrays (50 and 100 μl) under the same conditions of the single-droplet tests is analyzed. In particular, the conditions which determine the onset of nucleate and film boiling are stressed out. In the experimental tests, the interaction of different materials with several multi-droplet systems is monitored by infrared thermography. The spray cooling efficiency is related to the solid temperature decrease as a function of the water mass flux. In the present study, the effect of varying the droplet volume and the mass flux is also analyzed and discussed. The results on the droplets evaporation time and on the solid surface transient temperature distribution are also compared with the data obtained by the same authors during the analysis of droplet evaporation in total absence of nucleate and film boiling. In order to analyze the different behavior of the evaporating droplet as a function of the solid surface thermal conductivity, evaporative transients on aluminum, stainless steel and macor (a glass-like, low-conductivity material) are considered. Received on 20 February 1998