The 2006 CHF look-up table

Abstract

CHF look-up tables are used widely for the prediction of the critical heat flux (CHF). The CHF look-up table is basically a normalized data bank for a vertical 8 mm water-cooled tube. The 2006 CHF look-up table is based on a database containing more than 30,000 data points and provides CHF values at 24 pressures, 20 mass fluxes, and 23 qualities, covering the full range of conditions of practical interest. In addition, the 2006 CHF look-up table addresses several concerns with respect to previous CHF look-up tables raised in the literature. The major improvements of the 2006 CHF look-up table are: • An enhanced quality of the database (improved screening procedures, removal of clearly identified outliers and duplicate data). • An increased number of data in the database (an addition of 33 recent data sets). • A significantly improved prediction of CHF in the subcooled region and the limiting quality region. • An increased number of pressure and mass flux intervals (thus increasing the CHF entries by 20% compared to the 1995 CHF look-up table). • An improved smoothness of the look-up table (the smoothness was quantified by a smoothness index). A discussion of the impact of these changes on the prediction accuracy and table smoothness is presented. The 2006 CHF look-up table is characterized by a significant improvement in accuracy and smoothness.