Vapor Bubbles Research Articles

Microlayer dynamics of hydrodynamically interacting vapour bubbles in flow boiling

Nucleate boiling, a ubiquitous heat transfer mode, involves multiple vapour bubble nucleations on the heater surface and offers high heat transfer coefficients. The bubble growth process on a heating substrate involves the formation of microlayer, a thin liquid film trapped between the growing bubble and the heating substrate, and contributes to the bubble growth phenomenon through evaporation. Microlayer dynamics for a single bubble have been widely investigated in the pool and flow boiling conditions. However, the literature on multiple bubbles interactions and their associated microlayer information is scarce. Notably, in the case of flow boiling, where the microlayer dynamics are not symmetric due to the bubble's movement, the bubbles’ interaction and its influence on associated microlayer dynamics have never been reported. Therefore, microlayer and bubble dynamics in multiple interactions have been investigated experimentally using simultaneous application of thin-film interferometry and high-speed videography techniques in flow boiling with water as the working fluid. Our experimental investigation revealed that the secondary nucleation could cause a reduction in lift-off time and may assist or hinder the movement of the first bubble. The experimental results also demonstrated that the secondary nucleation could deplete the microlayer of the first bubble hydrodynamically even when the bubbles are far apart. Furthermore, it has been found that the microlayer depletion rate depends on the growth rate and the location of the secondary nucleation. Hence, this experimental study emphasises the need to consider the interaction of bubbles while modelling boiling flows to avoid overestimating the contribution of microlayer evaporation.

Cavitation-induced microjets tuned by channels with alternating wettability patterns

A laser pulse focused near the closed end of a glass capillary partially filled with water creates a vapor bubble and an associated pressure wave. The pressure wave travels through the liquid toward the meniscus where it is reflected, creating a fast, focused microjet. In this study, we selectively coat the hydrophilic glass capillaries with hydrophobic strips along the capillary. The result after filling the capillary is a static meniscus which has a curvature markedly different than an unmodified capillary. This tilting asymmetry in the static meniscus alters the trajectory of the ensuing jets. The hydrophobic strips also influence the advancing contact line and receding contact line as the vapor bubble expands and collapses. We present thirteen different permutations of this system which includes three geometries and four coating schemes. The combination of geometry and coatings influences the jet breakup, the resulting drop size distribution, the trajectory of the jet tip, and the consistency of jet characteristics across trials. The inclusion of hydrophobic strips promotes jetting in line with the channel axis, with the most effective arrangement dependent on channel size.

Numerical Study of Dielectric Fluid Bubble Behavior in Microchannel Evaporator in Presence of Diverging Electric Field

Herein, the diverging dielectrophoretic (DEP) electrode is designed to extract the vapor bubbles generated in a flow-boiling evaporator. The DEP and hydrodynamic forces acting on the undeformable single vapor bubble in the diverging electrode are estimated by the uncoupled flow and electrostatic simulation. The Maxwell stress, static pressure, and viscous shear stress on the bubble surface are considered. The diverging DEP electrode successfully generates a net force that acts on the bubble in the flow direction. The DEP force is dominant against drag at a low imposed mass flux and high applied electric field, where heat transfer enhancement could be expected. A large DEP force pushing the bubble toward the electrode is found when the bubble is close to the electrode.

Dissimilar cavitation dynamics and damage patterns produced by parallel fiber alignment to the stone surface in holmium:yttrium aluminum garnet laser lithotripsy.

Recent studies indicate that cavitation may play a vital role in laser lithotripsy. However, the underlying bubble dynamics and associated damage mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, we use ultra-high-speed shadowgraph imaging, hydrophone measurements, three-dimensional passive cavitation mapping (3D-PCM), and phantom test to investigate the transient dynamics of vapor bubbles induced by a holmium:yttrium aluminum garnet laser and their correlation with solid damage. We vary the standoff distance (SD) between the fiber tip and solid boundary under parallel fiber alignment and observe several distinctive features in bubble dynamics. First, long pulsed laser irradiation and solid boundary interaction create an elongated "pear-shaped" bubble that collapses asymmetrically and forms multiple jets in sequence. Second, unlike nanosecond laser-induced cavitation bubbles, jet impact on solid boundary generates negligible pressure transients and causes no direct damage. A non-circular toroidal bubble forms, particularly following the primary and secondary bubble collapses at SD = 1.0 and 3.0 mm, respectively. We observe three intensified bubble collapses with strong shock wave emissions: the intensified bubble collapse by shock wave, the ensuing reflected shock wave from the solid boundary, and self-intensified collapse of an inverted "triangle-shaped" or "horseshoe-shaped" bubble. Third, high-speed shadowgraph imaging and 3D-PCM confirm that the shock origins from the distinctive bubble collapse form either two discrete spots or a "smiling-face" shape. The spatial collapse pattern is consistent with the similar BegoStone surface damage, suggesting that the shockwave emissions during the intensified asymmetric collapse of the pear-shaped bubble are decisive for the solid damage.

Effects of super-hydrophilicity and orientation of heater surface on bubble behavior and the critical heat flux in pool boiling

This study investigated the boiling heat transfer characteristics of a super-hydrophilic surface with de-ionized water at different orientations. Pool boiling experiments were conducted at inclination angles of 45°, 90°, and 135° by rotating the experimental apparatus. The experimental results were analyzed to investigate the influence of inclination angle and hydrophilicity of the surface on the boiling heat transfer characteristics. Parameters such as the maximum and minimum vapor thicknesses, bubble wavelength, bubble velocity, BHTC (Boiling Heat Transfer Coefficient) and CHF (Critical Heat Flux) were measured during the experiment. An enhancement in the values of the parameters of the bubble dynamics was observed during the boiling experiment using the super-hydrophilic PCB (Printed Circuit Board) heater, indicating improved heat transfer during the experiment. The CHF of the super-hydrophilic PCB heater was enhanced by a maximum of 28% at an inclination angle of 45°; the enhancement reduced as the inclination angle increased.

Impact of vapour bubble movement on the process of two-phase heat transfer phenomena over hybrid elliptical tubes

The use of modified surface to improve the performance of two-phase heat exchanger in terms of pressure drop and heat transfer rate is one of the current need of industries. In light of this, the current analysis compares the diabatic two-phase heat transfer performance of hybrid elliptical tubes with that of traditional circular tubes at atmospheric pressure using distilled water as a quiescent test fluid. For the purpose of this investigation, a circular tube made of AISI 304 with a diameter of 25 mm and a heating length of 130 mm is used. In order to maintain the same surface area and heating length as a circular tube, the hybrid elliptical tubes are fabricated with varying aspect ratios of 1.17, 1.31, and 1.47. The heat flux varies between 14.87 and 94.82 kW/m2. For two orientation angles, i.e. 0ᵒ and 90ᵒ, the heat transfer performance of hybrid elliptical tubes are investigated. The analysis of results confirmed that both the tubes exhibit boiling characteristics. However, hybrid elliptical tubes outperform circular tubes in terms of heat transfer rate. It is also found that the hybrid elliptical tube with 0ᵒ orientation resulted in higher heat transfer coefficient about 20.61%, 36.74% and 20.69% than that of 90ᵒ orientation for aspect ratio of 1.17, 1.31 and 1.47 respectively. Regardless of orientation angle, the hybrid elliptical tube with aspect ratio of 1.31 demonstrated the highest heat transfer coefficient of all aspect ratios. Also, a non-dimensional correlation is developed which is found to predict the heat transfer coefficient of circular as we as hybrid elliptical tubes within an error band of ±12%.

An experimental investigation of subcooled pool boiling on downward-facing surfaces with microchannels

Upward-facing pooling boiling enhancement employing micro-structure has been extensively studied, yet it is rarely applied in the cooling system in microgravity or In-Vessel Retention (IVR) in nuclear industry. The main challenge lies in effective removal of the vapor columns and replenishment of the fresh liquid without the aid of the buoyancy force. To solve the issue, additional pressure induced by microchannel is introduced to yield spontaneous bubble removal and liquid replenishment in the present work. Downward-facing pool boiling of subcooled FC-72 are conducted on Plain, Straight- and Expanding-Channeled Surfaces (PS, SCS and ECS) with visualization experiments. The superheat at the onset of nucleate boiling (ONB) on channeled surfaces was decreased about 3 K compared to that of the PS, and the maximum heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of the SCS and ECS were improved by 149 % and 217 %, respectively. Compared to PS, the channeled surfaces are more independent from saturated pressure, displaying high and relatively consistent heat transfer coefficients under various pressure conditions. Additionally, with the increasing subcooling degree, channeled surfaces showed greater enhancement in heat transfer performance. Proved by the bubble dynamics, the ECS enabled a directional movement and effective removal of vapor bubbles even though the buoyancy force cannot be utilized under downward-facing condition. The proposed enhancement mechanism attributed to separated vapor–liquid flow paths is independent on gravity and achieves a satisfied pool boiling performance, thus is expected to provide a promising solution for thermal management systems in aerospace and nuclear industry.

Improving the Modeling of Pressure Pulsation and Cavitation Prediction in a Double-Volute Double-Suction Pump Using Mosaic Meshing Technology

Over the years, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been an integral part of most pump design processes. Unfortunately, as calculation schemes and flow investigations become more complicated, the cost of conducting numerical simulations also becomes more expensive in terms of computational time. To remedy this, cutting-edge technology, together with novel calculation techniques, are continuously introduced with the end target of producing more accurate results and faster computing time. In this paper, CFD simulations are run on a numerical model of a double-volute double-suction pump prepared using ANSYS Fluent Mosaic meshing technology. Poly-Hexcore, the first application of Mosaic technology, fills the bulk region with octree hexes, keeps a high-quality layered poly-prism mesh in the boundary layer, and conformally connects these two meshes with general polyhedral elements. This technology promises to provide a lower number of cells along with a significant increase in computing speed. In this paper, steady state results of the model with Mosaic Poly-Hexcore mesh with ~37% fewer cells produced comparable results with a similarly sized model prepared with multi-block structured hexagonal mesh. The predicted pump head, efficiency and shaft power under the design conditions were within 1% for both models, while calculation time was reduced by ~25%. Additional simulations using the Poly-Hexcore mesh showed that the model was able to closely predict the pump’s NPSH3 for 0.8QD, 1.0QD, and 1.2QD compared with the manufacturer’s data. Under cavitating flow conditions, the formation of vapor bubbles was observed on the suction side, starting at the leading edge of the blade and slowly forming as thin sheets towards the trailing edge as the suction pressure is reduced. Lastly, pressure fluctuations were observed from pressure coefficient data collected at several monitoring points in the volute and the impeller. It was seen that due to the interaction between the stationary casing and the rotating impeller, pulsations were equivalent to the blade passing frequency and its harmonics.

Mathematical Modeling of the Wave Dynamics of an Encapsulated Perfluorocarbon Droplet in a Viscoelastic Liquid

A mathematical model has been developed and a numerical study of vapor bubble growth as a result of acoustic evaporation of an encapsulated perfluorocarbon droplet in a viscoelastic liquid is presented. The viscoelasticity of the droplet shell and the carrier liquid is taken into account according to the Kelvin–Voigt rheological model. The problem is reduced to solving a system of ordinary differential equations for the radius and temperature of the bubble, the radius of the droplet and the shell together with the thermal conductivity equation for the internal liquid. Spatial discretization of the thermal conductivity equation is carried out using an implicit finite difference scheme. ODEs are solved by the fifth order Runge–Kutta method with an adaptive computational step. To check the correctness of the numerical calculation in a particular case, the theory has been compared with known experimental data. The influence of the shear modulus of the shell and the carrier liquid, and the shell thickness on the radial dynamics of a vapor bubble inside an encapsulated droplet in an external viscoelastic liquid is demonstrated.

Droplet evaporation characteristics of hydrogenated biodiesel-ethanol-diesel ternary fuel

ABSTRACT A multi-component blend of highly volatile ethanol with low volatile hydrogenated biodiesel and diesel is the subject of study. The internal vapor bubble dynamics and evaporation characteristics of individual droplets at high temperatures were investigated. The evaporation characteristics of droplet normalized square diameter and droplet lifetime of the blends of hydrogenated biodiesel, ethanol, and diesel were captured by means of the hanging droplet method and high-speed microscopic imaging in a constant temperature heating furnace. It is revealed that the rise in ambient temperature contributes to increasing the evaporation rate of fuel droplets and intensifies the micro explosion during evaporation and shortens the evaporation of droplets to a certain extent; Compared to diesel, the inhibition effect of evaporation is stronger with the increase of hydrogenated biodiesel in binary fuels and compared with binary fuels, ethanol in ternary fuels promotes micro explosions and shortens droplet evaporation; The droplet evaporation of binary fuels shows three typical phases of ethanol domination, ethanol, and diesel co-domination and co-evaporation of all three in sequence.

Enhanced boiling heat transfer of water on a liquid-infused surface

The aim of this study was to experimentally demonstrate a counter-intuitive phenomenon that a surface covered with a liquid has the potential for enhancing heat transfer for the boiling of water over it. To this end, a highly-wetting surface with a zero contact angle for multiple liquids, i.e., an Ultra-Omniphilic Surface (UOS) was prepared on aluminum (Al 6061 alloy) using a simple and easy-to-implement bulk micro-manufacturing approach and a non-boiling liquid (NBL) was infused over this surface to occupy its sub-surface micro/nano-cavities. The resulting liquid-infused UOS is called a Binary Surface (BiS) for it has two distinct superficial phases — solid phase as islands and liquid phase as NBL puddles. Saturated nucleate pool boiling experiments were conducted on the BiS and the critical heat flux (CHF) and the boiling heat transfer coefficient (HTC) were measured. The results were compared with the UOS and a plain/polished surface (PS) prepared from the same aluminum alloy sample. In addition, high-speed visualization was employed for capturing the bubble dynamics at different heat fluxes and parameters such as bubble departure diameter (Dd), bubble departure frequency (f), and nucleation site density (NSD) were measured. The results revealed that the nucleate pool boiling performance of water on the BiS surpasses both the PS and the UOS. The HTC on the BiS was 1.33 times and two times larger than the UOS and the PS, respectively. The CHF obtained on the BiS was comparable to that on the UOS and 1.47 times larger than that on the PS even though a considerable portion of the BiS surface area was covered with the NBL and unavailable for boiling. Remarkably, an inspection of the high-speed videos has suggested the presence of the same NBL as the reason for the better boiling heat transfer performance of the BiS. The NBL that was spread over the BiS as puddles was found to (1) prevent the growth of large vapor bubbles and (2) extend the isolated bubble regime by delaying the lateral coalescence of adjacent bubbles. A comparison of the results between UOS and BiS suggests that – as far as boiling enhancement is concerned – mechanisms for tackling vapor bubbles could be superior to those that involve improving surface wettability.

Experimental investigation on condensation regimes and transition boundary during bubble condensation in narrow rectangular channel

Direct steam contact condensation in subcooled water is widely used in various industries because of high efficiency in heat and mass transfer. A visual experiment is carried out to investigate the condensation process of vapor bubble in narrow rectangular channel. The steam injection mass flux, subcooled water temperature and water mass flow are 0.43–40 kg/m2·s, 50–93 °C, and 0–200 kg/m2·s, respectively. In order to obtain more accurate parameters of vapor bubble in narrow rectangular channel, a new bubble volume model was developed and compared with existed models. A three-dimensional condensation regime map is developed with the coordinates of steam injection flux, water mass flow, and water temperature. Five condensation patterns such as chug, oscillatory bubble, growth bubble, transition region and oscillatory jet are determined based on the dynamic behavior of steam-water interface. The bubble equivalent diameter and aspect ratio during evolution process are calculated, and these two parameters in each pattern exhibit a significant periodicity, except for the oscillatory Jet. The true area of heat transfer interface between bubble and subcooled water is much larger than the actual measured value under high steam injection mass flux. A transition criterion from oscillatory bubble regime to oscillatory jet regime is proposed by the analysis of the bubble critical diameter and the condensation heat transfer of steam-water interface.

Microstructure and Cavitation Damage Characteristics of GX40CrNiSi25-20 Cast Stainless Steel by TIG Surface Remelting

Cavitation erosion degrades the surface of engineering components when the material is exposed to turbulent fluid flows. Under conditions of local pressure fluctuations, a nucleation of gas or vapor bubbles occurs. If the pressure suddenly drops below the vapor pressure, these bubbles collapse violently when subjected to higher pressure. This collapse is accompanied by the sudden flow of the liquid, which is manifested by stress pulses capable of causing plastic deformations on solid surfaces. Repeating these stress conditions can cause material removal and ultimately failure of the component itself. The present study aims to reduce the negative impact of this phenomenon on the mechanical systems components, using the TIG local surface remelting technique. Cavitation erosion tests were performed in accordance with the ASTM G32-2016 standard on samples taken from a cast high-alloy stainless steel. The alloy response for each melting current value was investigated by measuring mass loss as a function of cavitation attack time and by analyzing the damaged surfaces using optical and scanning electron microscopes. It was highlighted that the TIG remelted layers provide an increase in cavitation erosion resistance of 5-6 times as a consequence of the fine graining and microstructure induced by the technique applied.

Numerical modeling of high-temperature melt droplet interaction with water

Three-dimensional numerical simulations are performed for the interaction of a hot melt droplet with water. Three-phase melt-water–vapor flows are described by the Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) model implemented in OpenFOAM software. In the calculations, initially non-moving and moving melt droplets were considered. Interaction was triggered by sharp increase in water pressure, leading to collapse of the vapor film. It is shown that melt droplet motion with respect to water affects the fragmentation mechanism. For a non-moving droplet, symmetrical collapse occurs, followed by melt surface perturbation and ejection of small melt jets. The estimated diameter of vapor bubble agrees with experimental observations on single droplet steam explosions. For moving droplets, asymmetric vapor bubble collapse generates a high-speed cumulative water jet penetrating into the droplet and fragmenting it. The effect of initial droplet velocity is investigated, and comparison of melt droplet shapes and surface areas for moving and non-moving droplets is presented.

Experiments to understand bubble base growth mechanism(s) on hydrophobic surfaces under the influence of bulk flow inertia during nucleate boiling regime

Wetting characteristics of substrate surface is one of the parameters that strongly influence the phenomena of boiling heat transfer. In this direction, importance of hydrophobic surfaces has been emphasized in the literature due to their potential to offer high boiling heat transfer rates at low heat fluxes. For such surfaces, it has been shown that microlayer ceases to exist with contact line evaporation being the dominant bubble base growth mechanism during nucleate pool boiling regime. The present work investigates the plausible mechanism(s) of bubble growth on hydrophobic surfaces under nucleate flow boiling conditions. Possibility of formation of microlayer even on low wettability surfaces under the influence of bulk flow inertia has been examined. Thin-film interferometry, in conjunction with high-speed videography, has been configured to record the microlayer dynamics and the bubble growth process in tandem. For a direct comparison, experiments under identical flow and bulk subcooled conditions have also been performed on a hydrophilic substrate, which is known to promote microlayer formation during the bubble growth process. Observations made through thin-film interferograms confirmed the formation of microlayer on hydrophobic surfaces. Experiments further revealed that the rate of growth of dry patch is higher on hydrophobic surfaces than that in the case of hydrophilic substrates. Vapor bubbles have been observed to be pinned on the hydrophobic surface whereas the phenomenon of bubble lift-off has been distinctly observed on hydrophilic substrate surface.

Diffuse interface modeling of laser-induced nano-/micro-cavitation bubbles

In the present work, a diffuse interface model has been used to numerically investigate the laser-induced cavitation of nano-/micro-bubbles. The mesoscale approach is able to describe the cavitation process in its entirety, starting from the vapor bubble formation due to the focused laser energy deposition up to its macroscopic motion. In particular, the simulations show a complete and detailed description of the bubble formation and the subsequent breakdown wave emission with a precise estimation of the energy partition between the shock wave radiating in the liquid and the internal energy of the bubble. The scaling of the ratio between the energy stored in the bubble at its maximum radius and the one deposited by the laser is found in agreement with experimental observation on macroscopic bubbles.

Coalescence-induced jumping of bubbles in shear flow in microgravity

Bubble removal from a solid surface is of significant importance to many technical processes and applications. In addition to the conventional buoyancy-aided bubble removal, there is also a passive strategy to remove bubbles from a solid surface via coalescence. However, likewise several processes, the coalescence-induced removal of bubbles from the solid surface is masked by the dominant buoyancy, hence, difficult to observe in terrestrial conditions. Microgravity condition offers a unique opportunity to investigate such phenomenon in great detail that can significantly improve our fundamental understanding. In this work, we report coalescence-induced jumping of isolated vapor bubbles from the heated substrate during shear flow in microgravity condition. We show that, similar to the coalescence-induced jumping droplets, when two bubbles coalesce, the resulting big coalesced bubble jumps from the substrate due to the conversion of excess surface energy into the translational kinetic energy, which provides the requisite initial velocity for jumping. Jumping of bubbles over a wide range of bubble size (post-coalescence radius ≈0.9–3.4 mm) is observed. Bubbles oscillate continuously while rising through certain height post-coalescence. We perform force balance and scaling analysis to develop a model to predict the maximum jumping height of bubbles. We show that the jumping height is strongly related to the bubble size and the non-dimensional Ohnesorge number, which captures the role of fluid properties governing the coalescence. The physical insight presented in this work has implication for the design of energy systems and microfluidic devices for the earth and space-based applications.

Direct numerical simulation of heat transfer on a deformable vapor bubble rising in superheated liquid

Heat transfer on a vapor bubble rising in superheated liquid is investigated by direct numerical simulation. The vapor–liquid system is described by the one-fluid formulation with the level set method capturing the interface. The proportional-integral-derivative controller is employed to keep the bubble's location fixed and evaluate interfacial forces. The heat transfer performance featured by the Nusselt number is evaluated based on the energy balance. Simulations are carried out for the bubble Reynolds number ranging from 20 to 500 and Morton number from 1.10 × 10−10 to 3.80 × 10−4. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the effect of bubble deformation and oscillation on interfacial heat transfer. The results show that the front part of the bubble contributes to the majority of the interfacial heat transfer, while the rear part mainly affects the oscillation amplitude of the total heat transfer. The interface stretch during bubble oscillation is considered as a key mechanism in enhancing the instantaneous Nusselt number. The potential flow solution of the averaged Nusselt number is corrected by considering the influence of the aspect ratio. This research provides additional insights into the mechanism of interfacial heat transfer, and the results apply equally to interfacial mass transfer.

Numerical Modeling of the Cavitation Flow in Throttle Geometry

The modern fuel injectors work with ultra-high injection pressure with a micro-size nozzle, which inevitably triggers the cavitation flow inside the nozzle. The formation of vapor bubbles and their development inside the nozzle is difficult to characterize due to its highly fluctuating spatial and temporal parameters. The numerical models can predict the temporal behavior of cavitating flow with the real-size nozzle geometry, which is fairly expensive with the experiments. A systematic study has been carried out using throttle geometry to characterize the cavitation flow. The different turbulence, multiphase, and cavitation models are extensively evaluated and validated with experimental data. A combination of numerical models has been proposed to predict the cavitation flow more accurately with low computational time. The results obtained with the k-ω SST (Shear Stress Transport) turbulence model and the ZGB (Zwart-Gerber-Belamri) cavitation model are more consistent with the experimental results. The overall structure of cavitation is well captured with both the VOF (Volume of Fluid) and the Mixture multiphase models. Although, the smaller structures like bubble formation and ligament breakup are only captured with the VOF (Volume of Fluid) tuned with the sharp interface method. The effect of pressure difference on the cavitation flow has been estimated with diesel and bio-diesel fuel. The effect of nozzle conicity on cavitation phenomena has also been reported.

An improved cavitation model with thermodynamic effect and multiple cavitation regimes

Mechanical feed pumps in organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power plants can suffer from cavitation to lose their normal feeding performance or even damage. Cavitation models for organic fluids in ORC systems are lacking presently. Hence, a new cavitation model with thermodynamic effect was proposed. Surface tension-controlled, inertia-controlled, intermediate and heat transfer-controlled cavitation regimes, and two key elements: vapour bubble growth rate and vapour bubble number density are included in the model. A known air or non-condensable gas concentration in the liquid was employed to determine cavitation nuclei number density. The model was coded in ANSYS CFX as user defined model and validated with cavitating flows of organic fluid R114 in a venturi, liquid nitrogen and liquid hydrogen on a tapered hydrofoil and warm water around a hydrofoil NACA 0015 in cavitation tunnels based on visualised cavity length. Two model constants, temperature depression, and minimal cavitation number were correlated to bulk liquid temperature, Reynolds number, and Jakob number. The temperature and pressure profiles of liquid nitrogen and hydrogen on hydrofoil surface were examined against the experimental data. The model was applied to simulate unsteady cavitating flows of organic fluid R245fa in a diaphragm pump. It was shown that the temperature depression and minimal cavitation number cannot be correlated to bulk liquid temperature, Reynolds number and Jakob number. Two model constants can be correlated fairly to Reynolds number. The model underestimates the thermodynamic effect by 43% for R114, 18.6% for liquid nitrogen and 32.6% for liquid hydrogen based on temperature depression. The predicted temperature and pressure profiles on hydrofoil surface agree with the experimental data for liquid nitrogen. The model can produce an expected curve of mean pump flow rate against net positive suction head available.