In this work we investigate the present capabilities of computational fluid dynamics for wall boiling. The computational model used combines the Euler/Euler two-phase flow description with heat flux partitioning. This kind of modeling was previously applied to boiling water under high pressure conditions relevant to nuclear power systems. Similar conditions in terms of the relevant non-dimensional numbers have been realized in the DEBORA tests using dichlorodifluoromethane (R12) as the working fluid. This facilitated measurements of radial profiles for gas volume fraction, gas velocity, bubble size and liquid temperature as well as axial profiles of wall temperature. After reviewing the theoretical and experimental basis of correlations used in the ANSYS CFX model used for the calculations, we give a careful assessment of the necessary recalibrations to describe the DEBORA tests. The basic CFX model is validated by a detailed comparison to the experimental data for two selected test cases. Simulations with a single set of calibrated parameters are found to give reasonable quantitative agreement with the data for several tests within a certain range of conditions and reproduce the observed tendencies correctly. Several model refinements are then presented each of which is designed to improve one of the remaining deviations between simulation and measurements. Specifically we consider a homogeneous MUSIG model for the bubble size, modified bubble forces, a wall function for turbulent boiling flow and a partial slip boundary condition for the liquid phase. Finally, needs for further model developments are identified and promising directions discussed.

The present paper describes results of experimental investigations of pressure drop during the condensation of R134a, R404a and R407C refrigerants in pipe minichannels with internal diameter 0.31-3.30 mm. The results concern investigations of the mean and local pressure drop in single minichannels. The results of experimental investigations were compared with the calculations according to the correlations proposed by other authors. A pressure drop during the condensation of refrigerants is described in a satisfactory manner with Friedel and Garimella correlations. On the basis of the experimental investigations, the authors proposed their own correlation for calculation of local pressure drop during condensation in single minichannels.

In the experiment, bubbles were generated from two brass nozzles with inner diameters of 1.1 mm. They were submerged in the glass tank filled with distilled water. There have been measured the air pressure fluctuations and the signal from the laser-phototransistor sensor. For analysis of the pressure signal the correlation (the normalized cross - correlation exponent) and non-linear analyses have been used. It has been shown that hydrodynamic interactions between bubbles can lead to bubble departure synchronization. In this case the bubble departures become periodic. The results of calculation of correlation dimension and the largest Lyapunov exponent confirm that hydrodynamic bubble interactions observed for 4 mm spacing between nozzels cause the periodic bubble departures from two neighbouring nozzles.

The paper presents investigation into the single water microjet surface cooling producing evaporating film. Reported tests were conducted under steady state conditions. Experiments were conducted using the nozzle size of 70 and 100 μm respectively. In the course of investigations obtained were experimental relations between heat flux and wall superheating. It was proved that the phenomenon is similar to that of pool boiling but the boiling curves are showing a smaller value of critical heat flux (CHF) that the stagnant pool boiling. Values of CHF are also reduced with decreasing liquid subcooling. Theoretical model of surface cooling by evaporating microjet impingement in the stagnation point was described theoreticaly. Results of experiments were compared with predictions by the model showing a good consistency.

The paper presents a description of selected models dedicated to steam condensing flow modelling. The models are implemented into an in-house computational fluid dynamics code that has been successfully applied to wet steam flow calculation for many years now. All models use the same condensation model that has been validated against the majority of available experimental data. The state equations for vapour and liquid water, the physical model as well as the numerical techniques of solution to flow governing equations have been presented. For the single-fluid model, the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for vapour/liquid mixture are solved, whereas the two-fluid model solves separate flow governing equations for the compressible, viscous and turbulent vapour phase and for the compressible and inviscid liquid phase. All described models have been compared with relation to the flow through the Laval nozzle.

Two phase flow experiments with different superficial velocities of gas and water were performed in a vertical upward isothermal cocurrent air-water flow column with conditions ranging from bubbly flow, with very low void fraction, to transition flow with some cap and slug bubbles and void fractions around 25%. The superficial velocities of the liquid and the gas phases were varied from 0.5 to 3 m/s and from 0 to 0.6 m/s, respectively. Also to check the effect of changing the surface tension on the previous experiments small amounts of 1-butanol were added to the water. These amounts range from 9 to 75 ppm and change the surface tension. This study is interesting because in real cases the surface tension of the water diminishes with temperature, and with this kind of experiments we can study indirectly the effect of changing the temperature on the void fraction distribution. The following axial and radial distributions were measured in all these experiments: void fraction, interfacial area concentration, interfacial velocity, Sauter mean diameter and turbulence intensity. The range of values of the gas superficial velocities in these experiments covered the range from bubbly flow to the transition to cap/slug flow. Also with transition flow conditions we distinguish two groups of bubbles in the experiments, the small spherical bubbles and the cap/slug bubbles. Special interest was devoted to the transition region from bubbly to cap/slug flow; the goal was to understand the physical phenomena that take place during this transition A set of numerical simulations of some of these experiments for bubbly flow conditions has been performed by coupling a Lagrangian code, that tracks the three dimensional motion of the individual bubbles in cylindrical coordinates inside the field of the carrier liquid, to an Eulerian model that computes the magnitudes of continuous phase and to a 3D random walk model that takes on account the fluctuation in the velocity field of the carrier fluid that are seen by the bubbles due to turbulence fluctuations. Also we have included in the model the deformation that suffers the bubble when it touches the wall and it is compressed by the forces that pushes it toward the wall, provoking that the bubble rebound like a ball.

In the paper presented are the issues related to the design and operation of micro heat exchangers, where phase changes can occur, applicable to the domestic micro combined heat and power (CHP) unit. Analysed is the stability of the two-phase flow in such unit. A simple hydraulic model presented in the paper enables for the stability analysis of the system and analysis of disturbance propagation caused by a jump change of the flow rate. Equations of the system dynamics as well as properties of the working fluid are strongly non-linear. A proposed model can be applicable in designing the system of flow control in micro heat exchangers operating in the considered CHP unit.