Validation study for VOF simulations of boiling in a microchannel

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of Volume-of-Fluid simulation results with experiments [1] for two-phase flow and heat transfer in a micro channel. Mass transfer between the phases is modeled using a reduced-order model, requiring the definition of a time relaxation constant, r. A two-step solution procedure is used, where first a fixed temperature boundary condition is imposed at the heater to avoid overheating of the device during the initial development of the two-phase flow. After obtaining a quasi-steady-state solution this is changed to a heat flux boundary condition to determine the final solution. Results using three different values for r indicate that the value of the constant should vary throughout the domain. A final simulation where r is defined as a function of the streamwise location results in a prediction of the base temperature within 1K of the experimental result, a pressure drop within 30%, and a prediction of the location of transition from subcooled to saturated flow within 2mm.