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Numerical investigation of flow boiling characteristics of water in a rectangular microchannel

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Abstract

In the case of flow boiling, the prediction of vapour fraction in the horizontal microchannel is a severe issue using the numerical technique. Two-dimensional numerical simulation was carried out for the flow boiling in microchannels with different boiling models (VOF, MM and EM). This study is one of the first studies that report a numerical assessment of these three models. Numerical simulations have done with water as a working fluid. The different mass flow rates (1.586 × 10−6 kg−1, 2.541 × 10−6 kg s−1, 3.112 × 10−6 kg s−1) and different heat fluxes (300 kW m−2, 400 kW m−2, 500 kW m−2) with different flow boiling models are used. The vapour fraction estimation was done by image processing in MATLAB program and compared with various mass flow rate and heat flux. It well validated with the published literature. An onset of nucleate boiling point position is estimated with same time step, and uncertainties of the numerical simulation were less than 2.5% at the lowest mass flow rate. The result shows that the vapour fraction in the microchannel increases with an increase in mass flow rate and heat flux. Similarly, the model’s heat transfer rate compared with the same mass flow rate and heat flux. The mixture model is best to estimate of vapour fraction compared to other models. The estimated vapour fraction values are 0.2950, 0.1848 and 0.1726 for MM, VOF and EM respectively. The heat transfer coefficient value for the mixture model is 20.381 kW m−2. Its value was very higher compared to other models because of the increase in fluid temperature difference at constant heat flux. This comparison can be used to provide design guidelines by selecting proper model for simulation work and minimize the complexity and wastage time.

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Abbreviations

VOF:

Volume of fluid

MM:

Mixture model

EM:

Eulerian model

PISO:

Pressure implicit with splitting operations

PRESTO:

Pressure staggering options

QUICK:

Quadratic upstream interpolation for convective kinematics

RPI:

Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute (RPI) wall boiling model

ONB:

Onset of nucleate boiling

CHF:

Critical heat flux

M qp :

Mass transfer from phase q to phase p (kg s−1)

M pq :

Mass transfer from phase p to phase q (kg s−1)

E q :

Energy of the phase (J s−1)

K eff :

Effective thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

V m :

Mass averaged velocity (m s−1)

F :

Body force (N)

h k :

Sensible enthalpy for phase (kJ kg−1)

E :

Energy (J s−1)

V dr :

Drift velocity for secondary phase k (m s−1)

F lift :

Lift force (N)

S q :

Sources of enthalpy (J kg−1)

Q pq :

Intensity heat phase p to phase q (J s−1)

C pl :

Liquid specific heat (J kg−1 K−1)

C pv :

Vapour specific heat (J kg−1 K−1)

C ps :

Specific heat (J kg−1 K−1)

h lv :

Enthalpy (kJ kg−1)

k l :

Liquid thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

k v :

Vapour thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

k s :

Solid thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

α q :

Phase volume fraction (–)

α k :

Volume fraction of phase K (–)

μ :

Dynamics viscosity of phase (N s m−2)

μ l :

Liquid dynamics viscosity (N s m−2)

μ V :

Vapour dynamics viscosity (N s m−2)

µ m :

Viscosity of the mixture (N s m−2)

ρ :

Density of phases (kg m−3)

ρ m :

Mixture density (kg m−3)

ρ l :

Liquid density (kg m−3)

ρ v :

Vapour density (kg m−3)

ρ s :

Solid density (kg m−3)

σ :

Surface tension (N m−1)

ρ r :

ρl/ρv (–)

x :

Vapour quality (–)

α :

Void fraction (–)

μ r :

μl/μv (–)

X r :

(1 − x)/x (–)

X tt :

Lockhart–Martinelli correlating parameter (–)

ϕ :

Diameter (m)

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge CFD Centre, SRMIST Kattankulathur for numerical simulations provides the simulation facility. Besides, the authors would like to thank the Management, SRMIST Kattankulathur for their continued support.

Funding

This study was supported by CFD Center, Department of mechanical engineering, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu District - 603 203, Tamil Nadu, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering & Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, 603203, India

    Thavamani Jeyaraj & Kumar Pankaj

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  1. Thavamani Jeyaraj
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Correspondence to Kumar Pankaj.

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Jeyaraj, T., Pankaj, K. Numerical investigation of flow boiling characteristics of water in a rectangular microchannel. J Therm Anal Calorim 147, 579–598 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-10231-x

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