Experimental study on bubble characteristics of time periodic subcooled flow boiling in annular ducts due to wall heat flux oscillation

Abstract

The significant effects of imposed wall heat flux oscillation on bubble characteristics of subcooled flow boiling with R-134a in horizontal annular ducts are experimentally performed in details. Specific emphasis has been applied on the bubble dynamics of the time periodic subcooled flow boiling characteristics influenced by the mean levels, amplitudes, and periods of the wall heat flux oscillations. The obtained experimental results have disclosed that the bubble parameters like the departure diameter, frequency and active nucleation site density, do oscillate periodically in time and are at the same frequency as the imposed wall heat flux oscillation. Nevertheless, these parameters also increase at long periods, high amplitudes of imposed heat flux oscillation or high values of mean imposed heat flux. Furthermore, the bubble size reduced after the time lag when the imposed heat flux decreases with time. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.