Critical Heat Flux in Flow Boiling—Review of the Current Understanding and Experimental Approaches

ABSTRACT

A comprehensive review of current literature on subcooled flow boiling with a focus on the mechanistic modeling of the departure from nucleate boiling is presented. This review covers parametric trends, other reviews on the topic, previous modeling approaches, applicable measurement techniques for two-phase flow, and an extensive literature review on mechanistic models for the prediction of critical heat flux (CHF). The models have been carefully deconstructed to give an overview about differences and similarities in the respective modeling approaches. Drawing on previously successful application of measurement techniques for two-phase flow, recommendations for future experimental investigation regarding specific parameters of the respective models are given for the refinement of the current modeling approaches of CHF phenomena.

Funding

The authors are grateful for the financial support by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), which funded this research under the funding code 1501473A. Responsibility for the content of this report lies with the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Moritz Bruder

Moritz Bruder is a Ph.D. student at the Technichal University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany, under the supervision of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Sattelmayer. He received his bachelor’s degree in energy and process engineering from TUM in 2012 and his master’s degree in sustainable energy futures from Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom. During his master’s studies he was honored with the award for best master’s thesis at Imperial College London in 2013, and he is currently working on two-phase flow heat transfer phenomena at the Division of Thermodynamics at TUM.

Gregor Bloch

Gregor Bloch is a former Ph.D. student of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany. His research on two-phase flow boiling phenomena, especially the behavior of the void fraction close to critical heat flux, under the supervision of Prof. Dr.-Ing Thomas Sattelmayer, was well received by the academic community in numerous publications. He received his diploma in chemical engineering from the Technical University of Munich and is now working at Linde Engineering.

Thomas Sattelmayer

Thomas Sattelmayer is a professor of thermodynamics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany. He received his diploma and Ph.D. from the University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany. After a successful career in research and development at ABB as Department Chief of Thermodynamics and Aerodynamics, he returned to academia and became the head of the Division of Thermodynamics at TUM. His research has been well received on an international level and has won renowned awards, such as the prestigious Gas Turbine Award of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2011.