Quantification and correlation analysis of bubble characteristics and heat transfer performance in direct contact heat exchanger

Abstract

In this work, a combination of morphological processing and watershed algorithm is proposed to measure bubble size, based on which an improved frame difference method is proposed to obtain bubble velocities with an F1 score of 0.96. Empirical equations for the boiling properties of flow in immiscible fluids and their influencing factors are developed. Correlation equations for the Nusselt (Nu) number and Colburn (j) factor are developed, with mean deviations of 5.42% and 5.47%, respectively. The results show that the increase in bubble rise rate and the trend of bubble growth become slower with the increase in the flow rate of the dispersed phase. In contrast, the temperature of the continuous phase has a negative correlation on the bubble growth and almost no effect on the bubble velocity. In addition, the heat transfer coefficient, which increases with the increase of the flow rate of the dispersed phase, has a negative correlation with the initial temperature difference. The main objective of this study is to provide a new method for measuring bubble parameters during direct contact boiling heat transfer and to provide new ideas for studying direct contact boiling heat transfer.