Heat transfer mechanisms of a vapour bubble growing at a wall in saturated upward flow

Abstract

The aim of this study is to provide a better insight into the heat transfer mechanisms involved in single bubble growth in forced convection. In a set-up with vertical upflow of demineralized water under saturation conditions special bubble generators (BGs) were embedded at various positions in the plane wall. Power to a BG, local mean wall temperature and high-speed camera recordings from two viewing angles were measured synchronously. An accurate contour analysis is applied to reconstruct the instantaneous three-dimensional bubble volume. Interface topology changes of a vapour bubble growing at a plane wall have been found to be dictated by the rapid growth and by fluctuations in pressure, velocity and temperature in the approaching fluid flow. The camera images have shown a clear dry spot under the bubbles on the heater surface. A micro-layer under the bubble is experimentally shown to exist when the bubble pins to the wall surface and is therefore dependent on roughness and homogeneity of the wall. The ratio of heat extracted from the wall to the total heat required for evaporation was found to be around 30 % at most and to be independent of the bulk liquid flow rate and heat provided by the wall. When the bulk liquid is locally superheated this ratio was found to decrease to 20 %. Heat transfer to the bubble is also initially controlled by diffusion and is unaffected by the convection of the bulk liquid.