Experimental and theoretical study on liquid-vapor behavior characteristics near CHF

Abstract

Liquid-vapor behavior characteristics near CHF conditions are investigated through flow visualization experiments and theoretical analysis. The detailed liquid-vapor behavior near CHF is captured by high-speed camera in this paper. With the increase of heat flux, the periodic vapor layer occurs due to numerous large bubble coalescence. A three-layer structure is observed close to CHF conditions, i.e., liquid film, vapor layer, and liquid core. The physical triggering mechanism of CHF is the complete evaporation at the liquid film wave trough position close to the end of the heating rod. Furthermore, based on the separated flow model and instability analysis, respective prediction models for essential liquid-vapor characteristics, including thickness of vapor layer, interfacial wavelength, and the maximum thickness of liquid film, are developed. The predicted results are in good prediction performance with MAE of 16.9 %, 12.8 %, and 26.1 % compared to experimental results, respectively. The relevant research in this paper provides an important foundation for further development of the mechanistic CHF model.