Review of Datasets and Correlations for Two-Phase Flow Boiling Heat Transfer of Pure Ethanol and Ethanol/Water Binary Mixtures

Abstract

Abstract Two-phase flow heat transfer has gained an extensive focus over the past decades in many industrial applications and thermal systems. Flow involving phase change due to boiling or condensation exhibits much higher heat transfer coefficient compared to single-phase flow when it is only sensible heat transfer involved. The knowledge of heat transfer coefficients and their parametric behaviors can be utilized to improve the accuracy of models used for designing and optimizing heat transfer equipment for more effective thermal management applications. In two-phase flow boiling heat transfer, the working fluid can be a single pure fluid or a binary fluid mixture. In the present study, a systematic methodology is used to compare the available correlations and experimental data in the literature for pure ethanol and ethanol/water binary mixtures at various physical properties. When evaluating the experimental data available in the literature, the availability of data for flow boiling of ethanol, both as pure fluid or binary mixtures, is found to be limited. The current data that this study has collected for flow boiling of ethanol covers the ranges for mass flux of 0.33 to 290 kg/m2·s, heat flux of 2.8 to 104 kW/m2, operating gage pressure of 18 to 135 kPa, and saturation temperature of 40 to 87°C. The correlations that have high accuracies in predicting the experimental data available in the literature are identified and discussed.