Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Open Access Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Advisor 1
Amitabh Narain
Committee Member 1
Kazuya Tajiri
Committee Member 2
Sunil Mehendale
Abstract
The main objective of the current work is to achieve a better understanding – through modeling and simulation/programming activities – of annular flow-boiling and its applications based on a synthesis of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, existing correlations, and experiments. A unique and rigorous 2-D CFD simulations technique was developed for annular flow-boiling to propose a correlation for convective component of Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC) – defined here as flow-boiling in the absence of nucleation. To provide a context for the correlation structure of convective component of HTC, flow-physics details of annular flow-boiling and correlation structure (based on fundamental considerations) for HTC have also been discussed. Further, other existing correlations for Nusselt number, void-fraction, flow-regime transition, and pressure-drop have been used to develop a general but first order engineering estimates-methodology for design of annular flow-boilers and flow-condensers. The first order estimates-methodology, thus developed for annular flow-boiler operations, was used to: (i) make a priori estimates of flow predictions towards choosing suitable instrumentations for the design of a particular test-section and associated flow-loop needed for a new high heat-flux flow-boiling experiments involving water as a working fluid), and (ii) define a range of experimental operating conditions – for a low heat-flux test-section and flow-loop (involving FC-72 as working fluid) facility from which experimental data needed to be obtained to throw light on the flow-physics being modeled by the CFD code. Furthermore, preliminary results from a different low heat-flux experiments are briefly discussed here and then compared with rigorous CFD simulations to achieve better understanding of the flow-physics.
Recommended Citation
RANGA PRASAD, HRISHIKESH PRASAD, "ASSESSMENT OF ANNULAR FLOW BOILING IN THE CONTEXT OF COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD) SIMULATIONS, EXPERIMENTS, AND EXISTING CORRELATIONS", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2017.
