A depletable micro-layer model for nucleate pool boiling

A depletable micro-layer model has been developed for the simulation of nucleate pool boiling within the framework of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling using an interface-tracking method. A micro-layer model is required for the CFD simulation to take into account vaporization from the thin liquid film – called the micro-layer – existing beneath a growing vapor bubble on a hot surface. In our model, the thickness of the micro-layer is a variable defined at each discretized fluid cell adjacent to the heat-transfer surface; the layer decreases due to vaporization, and can finally disappear. Compared to existing micro-region models, most of them based on the concept of contact-line evaporation, as originally proposed by Stephan and Busse, and by Lay and Dhir, our model incorporates simplified modeling ideas, but can nonetheless predict the temperature field beneath the growing bubble accurately. The model proposed in this paper has been validated against measurements of pool boiling in water at atmospheric pressure. Specifically, the bubble principal dimensions and the temperature distribution over the heat-transfer surface are in good agreement with experimental data.