Application of high-speed digital holographic interferometry for the analysis of temperature distributions and velocity fields in subcooled flow boiling

Holographic interferometry can be used to visualize density fields in fluids, and thus give insight into temperature distributions in flows. A fully digital reconstruction technique for holographic interferograms is presented that allows to create high-speed interferometric recordings and gives time-resolved information about heat transfer processes. The technique can also be used for a sequential (image to image) analysis of the recordings, which offers higher sensitivity and fewer errors due to optical impurities. Experiments are conducted with a vertical flow boiling channel with one heated wall, using a low boiling fluorocarbon as working liquid in regimes of steady-state nucleate boiling at critical heat flux (CHF), steady-state film boiling and CHF transient. Recording frequencies are up to 7,000 fps. The technique is used to analyze boiling processes at different fluid subcoolings with and without added turbulence. The results give enhanced insight into the temperature distributions, effects of different flow inserts and mechanisms of heat transfer in flow boiling at high heat fluxes. Furthermore, a velocimetric application of the technique is presented using cross-correlation for tracing of density gradients both in boiling and unheated flows. This application gives insight to the velocity distributions in the liquid surrounding the vapor layer. The results show good comparison to particle image velocimetry measurements for the same setup.