Modeling of vapor mass formation under forced convective boiling condition

Ono, Ayako ; Okawa, Tomio*; Yoshida, Hiroyuki  

The development of a precise and reliable prediction method for a departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) is urgently needed to design and develop new-generation reactors that enable us to establish a carbon-neutral society. In this study, we consider that the formation of a large vapor mass on the heating surface is the primary trigger of the DNB. Therefore, we embark on the development of a new model for vapor mass formation under forced convective boiling. We assume that the primary bubbles coalesced with each other, which are generated from the nucleation sites, and the coalesced bubble is formed. The nucleation sites are assumed to be distributed on the basis of the Poisson distribution. The large vapor mass is assumed to be formed by the merging of coalesced bubbles when the diameter of the coalesced bubble satisfies the criteria of the slug formation by Mishima. The analysis using the experimental data showed that the proposed model predicted the heat flux to form the large vapor mass well.