Experimental Study on the Subcooled Boiling Flow via Optical Measurement Techniques

A series of experimental work to investigate the subcooled boiling flow in a vertical square upward flow channel is described. As experimental methods, high-speed photography and infrared (IR) thermometry were employed simultaneously. The research scope explored includes (i) measurement issues of fundamental bubble parameters through visualization, (ii) experimental methodology to achieve both enhanced two-phase flow visualization and accurate wall temperature measurement, and (iii) measurement of diverse aspects of bubble dynamics as well as wall heat transfer by applying the verified experimental approach.

Before producing the actual data, substantial effort was first made to identify the critical measurement issues of fundamental bubble parameters in a forced convective boiling system. Those issues have never been explicitly addressed in previous studies despite the possibly critical impacts on the experimental results. Thus, a series of systematic experimental investigations was performed to uncover those issues and to verify the errors created by not addressing them, based on which more suitable ways of observing and characterizing such parameters through experiments were discussed.

Then, an experimental strategy to achieve high-fidelity optical measurements using both high-speed photography and IR thermometry was established. To attain the goal, the important issues such as test section design, IR thermal imaging issues, visualization strategy, wall temperature tracking method, and experimental validations were extensively addressed. Also, the feasibility of current experimental approach was demonstrated through the subcooled flow boiling experiment.

Finally, by employing the experimental strategy established, an experimental investigation of the subcooled boiling flow was conducted. The experiment was performed in a vertical square upward flow channel using refrigerant NovecTM 7000, in which a single nucleation site was purposely activated for a fundamental study of subcooled flow boiling process. The various aspects of bubble behavior under different subcooled flow boiling conditions were examined using both micro- and macroscopic views of high-speed cameras while measuring the wall temperature/heat flux with IR thermometry. Additionally, based on the measurements of various bubble parameters as well as wall heat transfer, relevant relations among those parameters and the underlying mechanisms were intensively discussed.