Experimental investigation and new correlation for the bubble departure diameter of methane and ethane binary mixtures during nucleate pool boiling

Abstract

Methane and ethane are the main components of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and mixed-refrigerant liquefaction cycles. The pool boiling characteristics and bubble dynamic parameters of methane/ethane mixtures are important for the design and optimization of LNG systems. In this study, visual experiments were carried out to investigate the pool boiling of methane, ethane and their mixtures on a horizontal flat surface. Heat transfer characteristics and bubble departure diameters were acquired at 0.3 MPa for different concentrations of the mixtures. The bubble departure diameter increases with the increase in superheat temperature and dimensionless Jacob number for all concentrations of the mixture. The non-linear variation with concentrations of the bubble departure diameter can be observed due to the effects of mixtures. The bubble departure diameters for mixtures were predicted by twelve existing correlations, with Cole's correlation having the lowest mean absolute relative deviation (MARD) of 46.28%, with only 38.78% points within ±30% deviation. Therefore, a new model for mixtures was developed based on force equilibrium analysis in this study. Marangoni force is taken into account in the proposed model, as well as the effects of mass transfer on the bubble growth rate in mixtures. The MARD of the new model is 18.78%, which is better than all the twelve existing correlations.