Saturated flow boiling heat transfer in water-heated vertical annulus

This paper describes the saturated flow boiling heat transfer characteristics of water at 1 atm and low velocities in water-heated vertical annuli with equivalent diameters of 10 mm and 6 mm. Test section is consisted of two concentric circular tubes outer of which is made of quartz, so the whole test courses can be visualized. There are three main flow patterns of bubble flow, churn flow and churn-annular flow in the annuli, most important of which is churn flow. Flooding is the mechanism of churn flow and churn can enhance the heat transport between steam and water; Among the three factors of mass flux, inlet subcooling and annulus width, the last one has great effect on heat transport, moderately decreasing the annulus width can enhance the heat transfer; Combined annular flow model with theory of flooding and turbulent Prandtl Number, the numerical value of heat flux is given, the shape of test boiling curve and that of calculated by model is very alike, but there is large discrepancy between test data and calculated results, the most possible reason is that some parameters given by fluid flooding model are based on experimental data of common circular tubes, but not of annuli. Doing more research on flooding in annulus, particularly narrow annulus, is necessary for calculating the saturated boiling in annulus. (authors)