Abstract
The scaling of high heat flux boiling flow systems is examined using a computational technique newly developed by the present authors. The current work is an extension of our previously reported two-dimensional scaling technique to include flow development along the axis of a cooling channel. The new approach involves the solution of the energy equation for a pipe flow subjected to a step change in wall heat flux assuming a fully developed turbulent velocity profile at the point of initial heating. A boiling-induced turbulent eddy diffusivity term is used with an adaptive genetic algorithm closure scheme to predict both the transition to, and development of, the partial nucleate boiling regime based on a postulated minimization of the local wall temperature. Examination of the constitutive equations in non-dimensional form in conjunction with the use of previously established fluid-property scaling tools, leads to the development of a scaling procedure. Reasonable similarity between a high heat flux boiling flow system utilizing water, and a lower heat flux boiling flow system using R-12 is demonstrated. A numerical experiment is carried out to illustrate the scaling technique.
