Subcooled Flow Film Boiling Across a Horizontal Cylinder: Part I—Analytical Model
An analytical model of stable subcooled flow film boiling on the front of a horizontal cylinder and a model for the wake region downstream of the flow separation points were developed. The flow and temperature fields upstream of the separation points were represented by a “local-similarity” solution obtained through a rigorous mathematical transformation. The transformed governing equations were solved numerically using a finite-difference scheme. Numerical solutions for the vapor layer thickness, the velocity, and the temperature fields were obtained for both the liquid and vapor layers. The results showed that the liquid boundary layer was thicker than the vapor film. Increases in the liquid subcooling and in the free-stream velocity decreased the vapor layer thickness. The influence of convection in the vapor layer is small yielding a near-linear temperature distribution. A two-dimensional vapor wake model was developed based on mass and energy balances. Numerical solutions, including the vapor layer thickness and the temperature field of the front part and the wake part, were matched at the separation points. The results showed that increases in the liquid subcooling decreased the vapor layer thickness. Heat transfer in the wake region can amount up to 20 percent of the heat transfer in the forward region and should not be neglected especially at high subcooling.