Flow Boiling of Carbon Dioxide in Horizontal Mini-Channel and Pattern Dynamics Approach to Study Flow Pattern

This paper provides a brief review on experimental and numerical investigations of flow patterns, pressure drop, and heat transfer including critical heat flux (CHF) of flow boiling carbon-dioxide (CO₂) at high pressure in mini-channels ranging 0.5mm to 3.0mm in diameter. The flow patterns of CO₂ at high pressure with small density difference between vapor and liquid and low surface tension show a slightly different structure from so far observed in mini-channels with air and water. The phase mal-distribution, similar to conventional tubes, in the cross-section becomes rather significant beyond the critical Bond number, which leads to the intermittent dryout at the upper wall of the tube. So far proposed flow pattern transition criteria are ineffective there, and newly developed discrete bubble model demonstrates its high potential in predicting flow patterns. Conventional homogeneous flow model is still available in predicting pressure drop. Based on this fact, flow instability problems, which significantly affect CHF, is discussed focusing on high-pressure CO₂ flow.