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Effect of an electrolyte (MgSO4) on the boiling flow regime and heat transfer for water at low heat flux and low pressure

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Abstract

The effect of doping distilled water with MgSO4 on the boiling flow regime and heat transfer on a vertical surface at low pressures was experimentally determined. The experiments were performed in a sealed 20 mm x 20 mm square cross section, 300 mm long vertical pipe. Two opposing walls were made of copper and the other two walls were made of polycarbonate for flow visualization. The tube was filled to 100 mm and heat was applied at the lower end of one copper wall and cooled at the upper end. The boiling dynamics on the heated copper vertical wall and the resulting two phase flow was visualized using a high speed camera for pure distilled water and 0.1 M, 0.2 M and 0.4 M concentrations of MgSO4. The presence of MgSO4 significantly changed the boiling dynamics, with a suppression of bubble coalescence and a promotion of nucleate boiling. The two phase flow exiting the heated section changed from slug to bubbly with the addition of the MgSO4. There was a significant increase in the heat transfer coefficient with the addition of the MgSO4.

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Abbreviations

A s :

Evaporator surface area, m2

Bo :

Bond number \(\frac{D^2g\left(\rho_l-\rho_v\right)}{\sigma_l}\)

Co :

Confinement number \(\frac1{D_i}\sqrt{\frac\sigma{\left(\rho_l-\rho_v\right)g}}\)

D :

Nominal bubble diameter, m

G :

Mass flux of vapour, kg/s

h :

Heat transfer coefficient, W/m2C

\({j}_{v}^{*}\) :

Superficial vapour velocity \(G/\sqrt{\left[gD\rho_v\left(\rho_l-\rho_v\right)\right]}\)

P :

Pressure, Pa

Q in :

Heat in, W

T :

Temperature, °C

T w :

Wall temperature, °C

T s :

Saturation temperature, °C

We :

Weber number \(\frac{G^2D}{\rho_v\sigma_l}\)

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Funding

The support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

    A. Holmes, A. Toic, D. Ewing & C. Y. Ching

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan

    N. Fujisawa

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  1. A. Holmes
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  2. A. Toic
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  3. D. Ewing
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  4. N. Fujisawa
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  5. C. Y. Ching
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Correspondence to C. Y. Ching.

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Holmes, A., Toic, A., Ewing, D. et al. Effect of an electrolyte (MgSO4) on the boiling flow regime and heat transfer for water at low heat flux and low pressure. Heat Mass Transfer 58, 481–487 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-021-03124-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-021-03124-8

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