Suppression of nucleate boiling in upward two-phase annular flow: A direct measurement using modern diagnostics

Abstract

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd In heat exchangers employing flow boiling, e.g., boiling water reactors and industrial boilers, the heat transfer mechanism will transition from nucleate boiling to forced convective evaporation as the flow pattern transition from bubbly to annular flow at relatively high steam quality. Such thermal transition is called suppression of nucleate boiling (SNB). The occurrence of SNB affects the local heat transfer coefficient, the stability of liquid film, as well as the characteristics of entrained liquid droplets in the gas core. Despite its importance, there has been hitherto few direct measurements of the SNB conditions. Furthermore, the existing prediction approaches of SNB are only approximate, since they are based on extrapolation of empirical heat transfer correlations valid for nucleate boiling and forced convective evaporation regimes, rather than SNB mechanism. The objective of this study is to, experimentally and theoretically, fill the gap in understanding SNB phenomenon, using a modern set of diagnostics and a semi-empirical modeling approach. We leveraged synchronized infrared thermometry and an electrical conductance-based liquid film thickness sensor to investigate the details of the SNB phenomenon with high spatial and temporal resolutions. Such advanced diagnostics measure two crucial boundary conditions for SNB, i.e., the distribution of the temperature and heat flux on the heated wall, as well as the thickness of the liquid film. Such direct measurement revealed a clear dependency of SNB heat flux and wall superheat on both steam quality and mass flux. The experimental database has informed a more accurate semi-empirical model for predicting the SNB condition.