On the mechanistic modeling of forced-convection low-quality boiling

Practical applications of forced-convection boiling encompass a wide spectrum of industrial systems, including but not limited to, thermal energy generation systems, because of the complexity of phenomena governing boiling heat transfer in general, and subcooled boiling in particular, a commonly used approach to both fundamental and practical problems has traditionally been based on experimental correlations rather than mechanistic models. The recent progress in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), combined with improved experimental techniques in two-phase flow and heat transfer, makes the use of rigorous physically-based models a realistic alternative to the simplistic phenomenological approach which dominated the field in the past. The objective of this paper is to discuss some of the recent accomplishments in the mechanistic modeling of forced-convection low-quality boiling, including both the nucleate boiling regime and the mechanisms governing the departure from nucleate boiling (critical heat flux - CHF).