Study of Bubble Growth on a Heated Vertical Surface: Influence of Axial Flow Vibration

The study of vapour bubble growth is very much essential to estimate the heat transfer rates in thermal and energy systems that involve coolant phase change. In the present study, a numerical model based on energy and force balance method is employed to predict the growth rate and departure diameter of vapour bubbles on a vibrating surface under subcooled flow boiling conditions. The energy balance considers the conduction heat transfer through the superheated layer only. The model is validated against the experimental data without and with vibrating heated surface and a good agreement is obtained. Further, a numerical simulation is performed by varying the vibration frequency of heated surface along the flow and the degree of subcooling. It was noticed that the vibration of heated surface along the coolant flow causes early departure of the vapour bubbles from the heated surface and results in enhanced heat transfer.