Experimental Observations of Boiling and Flow Evolution in a Coiled Tube

A sequence of visually experimental observations was conducted to investigate the flow boiling and two-phase flow in a coiled tube. Different boiling modes and bubble dynamical evolutions were identified for better recognizing the phenomena and understanding the two-phase flow evolution and heat transfer mechanisms. The dissolved gases and remained vapor would serve as foreign nucleation sites, and together with the effect of buoyancy, centrifugal force and liquid flow, these also induce very different flow boiling nucleation, boiling modes, bubble dynamical behavior, and further the boiling heat transfer performance. Bubbly flow, plug flow, slug flow, stratified/wavy flow and annular flow were observed during the boiling process in the coiled tube. Particularly the effects of flow reconstructing and thermal non-equilibrium release in the bends were noted and discussed with the physical understanding. Coupled with the effects of the buoyancy, centrifugal force and inertia or momentum ratio of the two fluids, the flow reconstructing and thermal non-equilibrium release effects have critical importance for flow pattern in the bends and flow evolution in next straight sections.