Microbubbles Emission Flow Boiling in a Microchannel and Minichannel

This paper reports the results of experimental investigations on microbubbles emission boiling (MEB) in a microchannel and minichannel. MEB is a boiling phenomenon under high subcool and high heat flux condition. To understand the mechanisms and processes of MEB, pool boiling on a thin wire under subcooled condition was firstly performed. Under various subcooling condition, the experiments of subcool boiling were performed. From photographic observation, distributions of bubble diameters and their dependence on subcooling were investigated. To achieve better understanding of the process of MEB and to find the incipient subcooling of MEB, a sound of ebullition was recorded and analyzed. It was found that 30 to 40 K are the incipient subcooling of MEB on the thin wire. In the experiment of MEB in microchannel and minichannel, the special attention was paid to longitudinal transition of boiling behavior, since bulk liquid temperature increases in short length in case of subcooled flow boiling. Boiling curves for various channel height were obtained from experimental data, and pressure drop through whole channel was measured. In a minichannel, annular flow flushed out the whole channel from the downstream to the upstream and the pressure drop fluctuates, while in a microchannel, flow pattern was divided into two regions: bubbly flow in upstream and annular flow in downstream.