Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1740468 Progress in Nuclear Energy 2015 11 Pages PDF
Abstract

•Single bubble condensation in subcooled flow is numerical studied.•A coupled Level Set and VOF method with a phase change model was developed.•The research is based on an open source code, OpenFOAM.

The single condensing bubble behavior in subcooled flow has been numerical investigated using the open source code OpenFOAM. A coupled Level Set (LS) and Volume of Fluid (VOF) method (CLSVOF) model with a phase change model for condensation was developed and implemented in the code. The simulated results were firstly compared with the experimental results, they were in great agreements, and thus the simulation model was validated. The validated numerical model was then used to analyze the condensing bubble deformation, bubble lifetime, bubble size history, condensate Nusselt number and other interesting parameters with different variables in subcooled flow. The numerical results indicated that the initial bubble size, subcooling of liquid and system pressure play an important role to influence the condensing bubble behaviors significantly and bubble will be pierced when the subcooling and initial diameter reach a certain value at the later condensing stage. The bubble diameter history and condensate Nusselt number were found in good agreement with the empirical correlation. The drag force coefficient was predicted well by introducing a reduced drag coefficient.

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Physical Sciences and Engineering Energy Energy Engineering and Power Technology
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