Numerical simulation of boiling flow and heat transfer presents a number of unique challenges in both theoretical modeling and developing robust numerical methodology. The major difficulty arises due to the heat transfer and phase changes between heated walls and fluid (liquid and vapor). Furthermore, modeling of the liquid-vapor interfacial transfers of momentum, heat and mass proves to be equally challenging. The multiphase boiling modeling approach described in this paper has been found to be capable of addressing these issues and is therefore suitable for inclusion in an advanced general purpose CFD solver. In the present approach, boiling flows are modeled within the framework of the Eulerian multifluid model. The governing equations solved are phase continuity, momentum and energy equations. Turbulence effects can be accounted for using mixture, dispersed or per-phase multiphase turbulence models. Wall boiling phenomena are modeled using the baseline mechanistic RPI model for nucleate boiling, and its extensions to non-equilibrium boiling and critical heat flux regime. A range of sub-models are considered to account for the interfacial momentum, mass and heat transfer, and flow regime transitions. An advanced numerical scheme has been developed for solving the model equations which can handle the heat partition between heated walls and fluid, provide for wall and interfacial mass transfer source terms in phase volume fraction equations, and address the coupling between the phase change rates and the pressure correction equation. The wall boiling models and numerical algorithm have been implemented in an advanced, general-purpose CFD code, FLUENT. Validations have been carried out for a range of 2D and 3D boiling flows, including pressurized water through a vertical pipe with heated walls, R-113 liquid in a vertical annulus with internal heated walls, a 3D BRW core channel geometry with vertical heated rods, and water in a vertical circular pipe under critical heat flux and post dry-out conditions. The results demonstrate that the wall boiling models are able to correctly predict the wall temperature and vapor volume fraction distribution. The predictions in all the cases are in reasonable good agreement with available experiments. Tests also indicate that the present implementation is fast and robust, as compared to previous approaches. All the cases are able to be simulated with the use of the FLUENT steady-state multiphase solver with reasonable numbers of iterations.
Nucleate boiling flow – experimental investigations and wall heat flux modelling for automotive engine applications