Numerical Study of Bubble Behavior under Gradient Flows during Subcooled Flow Boiling in Vertical Flow Channel

Abstract

In this study, we examined the condensing behavior of single and multiple bubbles of pure steam in a subcooled liquid phase using a fully compressible two-phase homogeneous mixture method that is solved by an implicit dual-time preconditioned technique. The interface between the liquid and vapor phases was determined by the advection equations using a compressive high-resolution interfacing capturing method. The spurious current reduced near the interface, a smoothing filter is applied to the progress curvature calculation. The sensitivity study carried out to predict the empirical constant by using Lee’s mass transfer model. A comparison of the numerical and experimental results highlighted that the proposed model accurately predicted the behavior of the definite condensing bubble. Furthermore, the single and multiple bubble condensation behaviors were investigated for different initial subcooled temperatures, and bubble diameters under various gradient flow, such as velocity gradient, temperature gradient, and velocity and temperature gradients. Subsequently, the effect of multiple bubbles flows in different bubble pattern forms, and their condensation was studied. The coalescence of bubbles depends on the subcooled temperature. Furthermore, the bubble diameter, the gap between the bubbles, and the flow rate of the bubbles were also observed.