Influence of Test Tube Material on Subcooled Flow Boiling Critical Heat Flux in Short Vertical Tube

Abstract

The steady state subcooled flow boiling critical heat flux (CHF) for the flow velocities (u=4.0 to 13.3 m/s), the inlet subcoolings (ΔTsub,in=48.6 to 154.7 K), the inlet pressure (Pin=735.2 to 969.0 kPa) and the increasing heat input (Q0 exp(t/τ), τ=10, 20 and 33.3 s) are systematically measured with the experimental water loop. The 304 Stainless Steel (SUS304) test tube of inner diameter (d=6 mm), heated length (L=66 mm) and L/d=11 with the inner surface of rough finished (Surface roughness, Ra=3.18 μm), the Cupro Nickel (Cu-Ni 30%) test tube of d=6 mm, L=60 mm and L/d=10 with Ra=0.18 μm and the Platinum (Pt) test tubes of d=3 and 6 mm, L=66.5 and 69.6 mm, and L/d=22.2 and 11.6 respectively with Ra=0.45 μm are used in this work. The CHF data for the SUS304, Cu-Ni 30% and Pt test tubes were compared with SUS304 ones for the wide ranges of d and L/d previously obtained and the values calculated by the authors' published steady state CHF correlations against outlet and inlet subcoolings. The influence of the test tube material on CHF is investigated into details and the dominant mechanism of subcooled flow boiling critical heat flux is discussed.