Numerical Simulations of Gas-Liquid Boiling Flows Using OpenFOAM

Abstract

The present work is aimed at development of an experimentally verified computational model based on OpenFOAM for the simu- lations of gas-liquid boiling flows. The open source CFD code OpenFOAM was developed further to include k-E turbulence model, different inter-phase coupling forces and energy transport accompanied with phase change. The most commonly used wall heat flux partitioning model, proposed by Kurul and Podowski 1, was implemented in the OpenFOAM to simulate two-phase boiling. The predicted axial and radial vapor volume fraction distribution, liquid temperature distribution and wall temperature profiles were compared with the DEBORA measurements 2. A good agreement between the predictions and measurements was observed. The experimentally verified model was used to understand the effects of various interfacial closures e.g. lift force, turbulent dispersion force and wall force, on the vapor volume fraction distribution. The effects of bubble induced turbulence and nucleation site density on the hydrodynamics of the gas-liquid boiling flows were studied. Such an experimentally verified open source CFD code will be useful to simulate boiling under different regimes and in complex geometries.