In this work a statistical model is developed by deriving the probability density function of bubble coalescence on boiling surface to describe the distribution of vapor bubble radius. Combining this bubble coalescence model with other existing models in the literature that describe the dynamics of bubble motion and the mechanisms of heat transfer, the surface heat flux in subcooled nucleate boiling can be calculated. By decomposing the surface heat flux into various components due to different heat transfer mechanisms, including forced convection, transient conduction, and evaporation, the effect of the bubble motion is identified and quantified. Predictions of the surface heat flux are validated with R134a data measured in boiling experiments and water data available in the literature, with an overall good agreement observed. Results indicate that there exists a limit of surface heat flux due to the increased bubble coalescence and the reduced vapor bubble lift-off radius as the wall temperature increased. Further investigation confirms the consistency between this limit value and the experimentally measured critical heat flux (CHF), suggesting that a unified mechanistic modeling to predict both the surface heat flux and CHF is possible. In view of the success of this statistical modeling, the authors tend to propose the utilization of probabilistic formulation and stochastic analysis in future modeling attempts on subcooled nucleate boiling.
Skip Nav Destination
e-mail: wen.wu@gat.com
e-mail: bgjones@uiuc.edu
e-mail: tynewell@uiuc.edu
Article navigation
December 2009
This article was originally published in
Journal of Heat Transfer
Research Papers
A Statistical Model of Bubble Coalescence and Its Application to Boiling Heat Flux Prediction—Part I: Model Development
Wen Wu,
Wen Wu
Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering,
e-mail: wen.wu@gat.com
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
, Urbana, IL 61801
Search for other works by this author on:
Barclay G. Jones,
Barclay G. Jones
Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering,
e-mail: bgjones@uiuc.edu
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
, Urbana, IL 61801
Search for other works by this author on:
Ty A. Newell
Ty A. Newell
Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering,
e-mail: tynewell@uiuc.edu
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
, Urbana, IL 61801
Search for other works by this author on:
Wen Wu
Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering,
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
, Urbana, IL 61801e-mail: wen.wu@gat.com
Barclay G. Jones
Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering,
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
, Urbana, IL 61801e-mail: bgjones@uiuc.edu
Ty A. Newell
Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering,
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
, Urbana, IL 61801e-mail: tynewell@uiuc.edu
J. Heat Transfer. Dec 2009, 131(12): 121013 (11 pages)
Published Online: October 15, 2009
Article history
Received:
January 29, 2009
Revised:
July 16, 2009
Published:
October 15, 2009
Connected Content
A companion article has been published:
A Statistical Model of Bubble Coalescence and Its Application to Boiling Heat Flux Prediction—Part II: Experimental Validation
Citation
Wu, W., Jones, B. G., and Newell, T. A. (October 15, 2009). "A Statistical Model of Bubble Coalescence and Its Application to Boiling Heat Flux Prediction—Part I: Model Development." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. December 2009; 131(12): 121013. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4000024
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Cited By
On Prof. Roop Mahajan's 80th Birthday
J. Heat Mass Transfer
Thermal Hydraulic Performance and Characteristics of a Microchannel Heat Exchanger: Experimental and Numerical Investigations
J. Heat Mass Transfer (February 2025)
Related Articles
Numerical Simulation of Evaporating Two-Phase Flow in a High-Aspect-Ratio Microchannel with Bends
J. Heat Transfer (August,2017)
On the Mechanism of Forced-Convection Subcooled Nucleate Boiling
J. Heat Transfer (February,1990)
Wall Heat Flux Partitioning During Subcooled Flow Boiling: Part 1—Model Development
J. Heat Transfer (February,2005)
Evaporation/Boiling in Thin Capillary Wicks (II)—Effects of Volumetric Porosity and Mesh Size
J. Heat Transfer (December,2006)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Energy Balance for a Swimming Pool
Electromagnetic Waves and Heat Transfer: Sensitivites to Governing Variables in Everyday Life
Forced Convection Subcooled Boiling
Two-Phase Heat Transfer
Liquid Cooled Systems
Thermal Management of Telecommunication Equipment, Second Edition