Critical Heat Flux and Near-Wall Boiling Behaviors in Saturated and Subcooled Pool Boiling on Vertical and Inclined Surfaces

Abstract

The mechanism of the critical heat flux (CHF) where the departure from nucleate boiling (DNB)-type boiling transition takes place has not been fully elucidated. In this paper, we examine the trigger mechanism of the CHF for saturated and subcooled pool boiling on vertical and inclined surfaces based on measurements of the liquid-vapor behaviors near heating surfaces by using a conductance probe. The angle of inclination was varied from 90 (vertical) to 170 (facing almost horizontally downwards). The probe signals and the void fraction distributions showed that a liquid layer remains beneath the vapor masses moving upward along the heating surface at high heat fluxes near the CHF. The thickness of the liquid layer was determined from the location where the probe signals corresponding to the vapor masses disappeared. The thickness of the liquid layer formed on the vertical surface increased with increasing degree of subcooling, which may be the cause of the increases in CHF with increasing degree of subcooling. The measurements of saturated boiling on the inclined surface confirmed that the orientation of the heating surface greatly affects the period it takes for vapor masses to pass, but it negligibly affects the liquid layer thickness. This suggests that the decrease in CHF with increasing angle of inclination is primarily caused by the lengthening of the duration of vapor mass passage.