A Mechanistic model for flow boiling heat transfer

Abstract

A mechanistic model is presented for heat transfer in the wet wall region of saturated flow boiling inside circular tubes. Saturated flow boiling is postulated to be essentially -similar to partial subcooled boiling with the two modes of heat transfer, nucleate boiling and convective boiling, assumed to be additive. The contribution from each mechanism is examined on the basis of the available literature on heat transfer in thin films and on flow boiling inside circular tubes. The effects of film thickness and interfacial shear stress on the nucleate boiling component are analyzed. A comprehensive flow boiling plot is presented on q vs. AT coordinates to illustrate the influence of quality on flow boiling heat transfer.