Experimental identification of the phenomenon triggering the net vapor generation in upward subcooled flow boiling of water at low pressure

Observation of the bubble behavior was made using a high-speed camera to investigate the mechanisms to cause the net vapor generation in subcooled flow boiling. In the experiments, water was used as the test fluid, the flow direction was vertical upward, and the pressure was kept close to the atmospheric pressure. At high liquid subcooling close to the condition of the onset of nucleate boiling, all the bubbles were lifted off the heated surface immediately after the nucleation to disappear quickly in the subcooled bulk liquid due to condensation. It was found that the void fraction did not increase significantly unless the liquid subcooling became low enough for some bubbles to be reattached to the heated surface after the lift-off. When the reattachment took place, the bubble lifetime was substantially elongated since the bubbles slid up the vertical heated surface for a long distance after the reattachment. The reattachment therefore contributed to an increase in the void fraction. It was concluded that in the experimental conditions tested in this work, the bubble reattachment to the heated surface was a key phenomenon to cause the sharp increase of the void fraction at the point of net vapor generation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.