Numerical simulation of subcooled flow boiling

Sub-cooled flow boiling in a U-bend has been examined using numerical methods. An Eulerian/Eulerian mathematical description was used with a multiphase computational algorithm to predict several types of flows and to examine sub-cooled flow boiling. As a prelude to the study of sub-cooled boiling and two-phase flows, single-phase laminar and turbulent flows in a U-bend were investigated. Air-water bubbly up flow in a vertical straight duct followed by a U-bend with heat transfer was analyzed. In such a flow, as the flow develops through the U-bend the bubbles move from center and outer wall toward inner wall. After half way through the U-bend, the fluids do not have sufficient time for complete reorganization in the presence of centrifugal forces and the pressure gradients. After the U-bend, the bubbles finally reach the original distribution in about forty diameters. The heat transfer in the U-bend was also calculated and as expected heat transfer rate on the outer wall is higher than on the inner wall. For air-water bubbly two-phase flow, Nusselt numbers in the U-bend can be as high as 400 percent of the value in the straight duct on one of the walls.; The method of partitioned wall heat flux was used to study sub-cooled flow boiling. For sub-cooled flow boiling in a U-bend, axial and lateral velocity distributions as well as quality and void fraction variations were analyzed. Computed axial and lateral variations of void fraction compare favorably with existing experimental data. As expected, the pressure drop for bubbly flow through the U-bend is larger than for single-phase flow by as much as fifty percent. Computed pressure drop for flow with phase change falls between the predictions of two different correlations in the literature, and thus seems reasonable.; Predictions of heat transfer and void fraction under sub-cooled flow boiling using two-fluid models need better quantitative knowledge related to the mechanisms associated with bubble growth and detachment. When such data becomes available, they can be used to develop useful simple wall functions for two-phase flow and can yield accurate Nusselt number predictions.