A bubble merger process on a single nucleation site has been investigated by numerically solving the equations governing conservation of mass, momentum and energy in the vapor and liquid phases. The vapor-liquid interface is captured by a level set method which can easily handle breaking and merging of the interface. The level set method is modified to include the effects of phase change at the interface and contact angle at the wall. Also, the evaporative heat flux from the thin liquid film that forms underneath a growing bubble attached to the wall is incorporated in the analysis. Based on the numerical simulations, the effect of bubble merger on vapor removal rate, flow field and heat transfer has been quantified. The bubble merger pattern predicted numerically has been found to compare well with the experimental observations.

Issue Section:
Evaporation, Boiling, and Condensation
Keywords:
Boiling, Bubble Growth, Heat Transfer, Two-Phase, heat transfer, bubbles, nucleation, boiling, numerical analysis
Topics:
Bubbles, Nucleation (Physics), Computer simulation, Vapors, Heat transfer
1.
Lee
,
R. C.
, and
Nydahl
,
J. E.
,
1989
, “
Numerical Calculation of Bubble Growth in Nucleate Boiling From Inception Through Departure
,”
ASME J. Heat Transfer
,
111
, pp.
474
–
479
.
2.
Welch
,
S. W. J.
,
1998
, “
Direct Simulation of Vapor Bubble Growth
,”
Int. J. Heat Mass Transf.
,
41
, pp.
1655
–
1666
.
3.
Son
,
G.
,
Dhir
,
V. K.
, and
Ramanujapu
,
N.
,
1999
, “
Dynamics and Heat Transfer Associated With a Single Bubble During Nucleate Boiling on a Horizontal Surface
,”
ASME J. Heat Transfer
,
121
, pp.
623
–
631
.
4.
Sussman
,
M.
,
Smereka
,
P.
, and
Osher
,
S.
,
1994
, “
A Level Set Approach for Computing Solutions to Incompressible Two-Phase Flow
,”
J. Comput. Phys.
,
114
, pp.
146
–
159
.
5.
Gaertner
,
R. F.
,
1965
, “
Photographic Study of Nucleate Pool Boiling on a Horizontal Surface
,”
ASME J. Heat Transfer
,
87
, pp.
17
–
29
.
6.
Lay
,
J. H.
, and
Dhir
,
V. K.
,
1995
, “
Shape of a Vapor Stem During Nucleate Boiling of Saturated Liquids
,”
ASME J. Heat Transfer
,
117
, pp.
394
–
401
.
7.
Wayner, P. C., Jr., 1992, “Evaporation and Stress in the Contact Line Region,” Proceedings of The Engineering Foundation Conference On Pool and External Flow Boiling, V. K. Dhir and A. E. Bergles, eds., Santa Barbara, CA, pp. 251–256.
Copyright © 2002
 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.