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Effective solvent extraction incorporating electromagnetic heating is a relatively new concept that relies on Radio Frequency heating and solvents to replace steam in current thermal processes for the purpose of extracting bitumen from oil rich sands. The work presented here will further the understanding of the near wellbore flow of this two phase system in order to better predict solvent vaporization dynamics and heat rates delivered to the pay zone. This numerical study details the aspects of phase change of immiscible, two component, liquid/vapor systems confined in porous media heated by electromagnetic radiation, approximated by a spatially dependent volumetric heat source term in the energy equation. The objective of this work is to utilize the numerical methodology presented herein to predict maximum solvent delivery rates to a heated isotropic porous matrix to avoid the over-saturation of the heated pay zone. The total liquid mass content and mean temperature in the domain are monitored to assess whether the liquid phase is fully vaporized prior to flowing across the numerical domain boundary. The distribution of the volumetric heat generation rate used to emulate the physics of electromagnetic heating in the domain decays away from the well bore. Some of the heat generated acts to superheat the already vaporized solvent away from the interface, requiring heat delivery rates that are many times greater than the energy required to turn the liquid solvent to vapor determined by an energy balance. Results of the parametric study from the pay zone simulations demonstrate the importance of the Darcian flow resistance forces added by the porous media to stabilize the flow being pulled away from the wellbore in the presence of gravity. For all cases involving an increase in solvent delivery rate with a constant heat rate, the permeability range required for full vaporization must decrease in order to balance the gravitational forces pulling the solvent from the heated region. For all conditions of permeability and solvent delivery rates, sufficiently increasing the heat rate results in complete vaporization of the liquid solvent. For the case of decreasing solvent delivery rate, a wider range of higher permeabilities for a given heat rate can be utilized while achieving full vaporization. A three dimensional surface outlining the transition from partially vaporized to fully vaporized regimes is constructed relating the solvent delivery rate, the permeability of the porous near wellbore zone and the heat rate supplied to the domain. For the range of permeabilities ~3000mD observed in these types of well bores, low solvent delivery rates and high heat rates must be utilized in order to achieve full vaporization.

A pool boiling experimental facility has been designed and built to investigate nucleate pool boiling in water under sub atmospheric pressure. Liquid crystal thermography, a non intrusive technique, is used for the determination of surface temperature distributions. This technique uses encapsulated liquid crystals that reflect definite colors at specific temperatures and viewing angle. Design of the test section is important in this experimental study. Since a new TLC is required for every new set of test conditions, a permanently sealed test section is not an option. The real challenge is to design a leak proof test section which is flexible so that it can be taken apart easily. A plexiglass test section, including a top chamber with an internal volume of 60.9 x 60.9 x 66.4 mm and a bottom plate of 5.5mm thickness is designed and assembled together using quick grips. In the test section, water is boiled using 85.0mm x 16.0mm and 0.050mm thick Fecralloy® as the heating element. The TLC sheet is attached to the bottom plate and the heating element is placed on top of TLC so that the temperature distribution of the heating element during boiling can be interpreted from TLC. A camera system fast enough to capture the thermal response of the TLC and an arrangement to capture both hue of the TLC and growth of the bubble on the same frame has been designed and successfully used. This system allowed recording of position, size and shape of the bubble with synchronized surface temperature. In order to get hue vs. temperature relation, in-situ calibration of the TLC is performed for each test condition with the present experimental setup and lighting conditions. It is found that the calibration curve of the TLC at atmospheric pressure is different from the calibration curve of the same TLC at subatmospheric pressures. The maximum temperature difference between the two curves for the same hue is found to be only 0.6°C. The experiment is run at four different test conditions of subatmospheric pressure and low heat flux. It is run at system pressures of 6.2kPa (0.89Psi) and 8.0kPa (1.16Psi) with a constant heat flux of 1.88kW/m2 and 2.70kW/m2, and a constant heat flux of 2.70kW/m2, 3.662kW/m2 and 4.50 kW/m2 respectively. Analysis of nucleating surface temperatures using thermochromic liquid crystal technique is performed for these test conditions and the bubble dynamics is studied. The temperature distribution is quite varied in each case and the temperature is at its maximum value at the center of the bubble and it decreases radially from the center. The dry spot observed during the experiments indicates that the process of evaporation of the microlayer is dominant at subatmospheric pressures. It is observed that at very low pressure and heat flux the bubble growth is accompanied by the neck formation. Boiling parameters such as bubble frequency, bubble size and contact are also analyzed and a summary of these results for four different test conditions is presented and the relevant differences between the cases are discussed and the effect of increase in pressure and heat flux is noted.

This present study seeks to contribute detailed visualization data on a pool boiling experiments using HFE-7000. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to measure the time resolved whole field liquid velocity. Bubble dynamic parameters such as nucleation site density, bubble departure diameter, contact angles and frequency were obtained in shadowgraphy measurements. Infrared thermometry with an IR camera was used for observation of temperature fluctuations of nucleation sites. The experiments were taken for the heat flux from 0.042 kW/m^2 to 0.266 kW/m^2, six experimental conditions in total. To provide a supplementary description of heat transfer mechanism, a novel bubble characterization technique, reflection interference contrast microscopy (RICM), was used to obtain detailed information on bubble dynamic parameters on the microscopic scale. Bubble diameter was obtained from RICM pictures. Comparison between the experiments results and previous empirical correlation were made. Agreements and discrepancies were discussed.

Physical properties are fundamental to all chemical, biochemical and environmental industries. One of these properties is the normal boiling point of a compound. However, experimental values in literature are quite limited and measurements are expensive and time consuming. For this reason, group contribution estimation methods are generally used. Group contribution is the simplest form of estimation requiring only the molecular structure as input. Consequently, the aim of this project was the development of a reliable group contribution method for the estimation of normal boiling points of non-electrolytes applicable for a broad range of components. A literature review of the available methods for the prediction of the normal boiling points from molecular structure only, was initially undertaken. From the review, the Cordes and Rarey (2002) method suggested the best scientific approach to group contribution. This involved defining the structural first-order groups according to its neighbouring atoms. This definition also provided knowledge of the neighbourhood and the electronic structure of the group. The method also yielded the lowest average absolute deviation and probability of prediction failure. Consequently, the proposed group contribution method was then developed using the Cordes and Rarey method as a starting point. The data set included experimental data for approximately 3000 components, 2700 of which were stored in the Dortmund Data Bank (DDB) and about 300 stored in Beilstein. The mathematical formalism was modified to allow for separate examination and regression of individual contributions using a meta-language filter program developed specifically for this purpose. The results of this separate examination lead to the detection of unreliable data, the re-classification of structural groups, and introduction of new structural groups to extend the range of the method. The method was extended using steric parameters, additional corrections and group interaction parameters. Steric parameters contain information about the greater neighbourhood of a carbon. The additional corrections were introduced to account for certain electronic and structural effects that the first-order groups could not capture. Group interactions were introduced to allow for the estimation of complex multifunctional compounds, for which previous methods gave extraordinary large deviations from experimental findings. Several approaches to find an improved linearization function did not lead to an improvement of the Cordes and Rarey method. The results of the new method are extensively compared to the work of Cordes and Rarey and currently-used methods and are shown to be far more accurate and reliable. Overall, the proposed method yielded an average absolute deviation of 6.50K (1.52%) for a set of 2820 components. For the available methods, Joback and Reid produced an average absolute deviation of 21.37K (4.67%) for a set of 2514 components, 14.46K (3.53%) for 2578 components for Stein and Brown, 13.22K (3.15%) for 2267 components for Constantinou and Gani, 10.23 (2.33%) for 1675 components for Marrero and Pardillo and 8.18K (1.90%) for 2766 components for Cordes and Rarey. This implies that the proposed method yielded the lowest average deviation with the broadest range of applicability. Also, on an analysis of the probability of prediction failure, only 3% of the data was greater than 20K for the proposed method. This detailed comparison serves as a very valuable tool for the estimation of prediction reliability and probable error. Structural groups were defined in a standardized form and the fragmentation of the molecular structures was performed by an automatic procedure to eliminate any arbitrary assumptions. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2004.

Today nucleate boiling is widely used in numerous industrial applications such as cooling processes because of the high achieved heat transfer rates for low temperature differences. It remains a possible cooling solution for the next generation of central processing units (CPU), which dissipate heat fluxes exceeding the capabilities of today’s conventional forced air cooling. However, nucleate boiling is a very complex and elusive process involving many mechanisms which are not fully understood yet and a comprehensive model is still missing. For this study a new experimental setup was designed, constructed and commissioned to investigate bubble nucleation, growth, departure and interaction during nucleate pool boiling from a silicon device fully immersed in fluorinert FC-72. The location of bubble nucleation is controlled by artificial cavities etched into the silicon substrate. Boiling is initiated with a heater integrated on the back and micro-sensors indicate the wall temperature at the bubble nucleation site. During this work three different silicon test section designs were fabricated and boiling experiments on these substrates successfully conducted. Bubble growth, bubble departure frequencies and bubble departure diameters for different dimensioned artificial cavities, varied pressure and increasing wall temperature were measured from high-speed imaging sequences. Bubble interactions like vertical and horizontal coalescence were visualised and their impact on the boiling heat transfer investigated. The influence of spacing between two neighbouring artificial cavities on bubble nucleation and departure frequencies, vertical coalescence frequencies and departure diameters was analysed. The acquired data are used as input for a numerical code developed by our collaborators (Brunel University, UK and Los Alamos National Laboratories, USA) and are a first step to validate the code. The code studies the interactions between bubble nucleation sites on solid surfaces as a network. The simulations will help design boiling substrates utilised for chip cooling applications with optimal artificial cavity distribution to maximise the cooling heat transfer.

Boiling phenomena in micro scale has emerged as an interesting topic due to its complexity and increasing usage in micro electronic and mechanical systems (MEMS). Experimental visualization has discovered five main flow regimes: nucleate boiling, isolated bubbles, confine bubbly flow, elongated bubbly (or slug) flow, and annular flow. Two of these patterns (confine bubbles and slug flow) are rarely found in macro channels and are believed to have very different heat transfer mechanisms to that of nucleate boiling. The development of a phenomenological model demands a deep understanding of each flow regime as well as the transition process between them. While studies in every individual flow pattern are available in literature, the mechanisms of transition processes between them remain mysterious. More specifically, how the isolated bubbles evolve into a confined bubbly flow, and how this further evolves into elongated bubbles and finally an annular flow. The effects of boundary conditions such as wall heat flux, surface tension, and interfacial velocity are unclear, too. The aims of this thesis are to develop and validate a new numerical algorithm, perform a comprehensive numerical study on these transition processes, uncover the transition mechanisms and investigate effects of boundary and operating conditions. Firstly, a sophisticated and robust numerical model is developed by combining a coupled level set method (CLSVOF) and a non-equilibrium phase change model, which enables an accurate capture of the two-phase interface, as well as the interface temperature. Secondly, several flow regime transitions are studied in this thesis: nucleate bubbles to confined bubbly flow, multi confined bubbles moving consecutively in a micro channel, and slug to annular flow transition. Effects of surface tension, heat flux, mass flux, and fluid properties are examined. All these regimes are studied separately, which means an appropriate initial condition is needed for each regime. The author developed a simplified model based on energy balance to set the initial and boundary conditions. / <p>QC 20170403</p>

Cette thèse porte sur la modélisation de l'ébullition qui joue un rôle important dans les vitessesde refroidissement des pièces, elle possède un volet numérique et un volet expérimental. Lessimulations et les expériences envisagées se situent à deux échelles. A l'échelle d'une ou quelquesbulles de vapeur, il s'agit de faire des simulations multiphasiques très précises en prenant encompte, la tension de surface, les calculs directs d'écoulement à grand nombre de Reynolds, etrendant compte du détachement et de la coalescences des bulles. Des observations expérimentalessont réalisées à la même échelle en contrôlant en surface la nucléation d'une bulle de vapeur àl'aide d'une caméra rapide. Des mesures de champs de vitesse par PIV et de température par twocolor LIF thermometry sont réalisées dans les mêmes conditions. Ceci a permit de confronter lacroissance, la dynamique et les formes des bulles observées et calculés. Les techniques numériquesles plus avancées sont utilisées : Eléments finis stabilisé VMS, level set, adaptation anisotropeet calcul intensif. Les modéles numériques proposés dans cette thèse permettent de passer àl'échelle macroscopique des pièces industrielles en considérant un film de vapeur (ou une phasede mélange liquide vapeur). L'enjeu supplémentaire étant de modéliser la turbulence induite parl'ébullition dans une approche de type CFD. / This thesis focuses on the modelling of boiling that plays an important role on the coolingand heat treatment in quenching processes, it has two components: numerical simulations andexperimental measurements. Both simulations and experiments are envisaged for two scales. Thefirst one concerns small scales: the scale of one or few bubbles. In this case, the focus is put onvery precise numerical simulations for multiphase flows taking into account the surface tension,the direct computations of flows at high Reynolds number, and on reflecting the detachmentand coalescence of bubbles. On that same scale, experimental observations are performed tocontrol, in the volume or at surface, the nucleation of a vapour bubble using a high speedcamera. Measurements of velocity fields by PIV and the temperature by PLIF are realizedunder the same conditions. This will allow us to compare the growth dynamics and shapesof bubbles observed and calculated. Advanced numerical methods are used to fulfil this task:VMS stabilized finite elements, level set, anisotropic adaptation and parallel computing. Thenumerical models proposed in this work are extended and also used to deal with macroscopicscales: at the level of industrial parts considering the vapour films (or a phase of liquid vapourmixture). The additional challenge resides in the modelling of turbulence induced by boiling ina CFD approach.

L'ébullition est présente dans la vie de tous les jours et elle a été par conséquent le sujet de beaucoup d'études, mais pour la plupart en régimes stationnaires. Néanmoins, l'intérêt de connaître les caractéristiques de l'ébullition transitoire est aussi important notamment pour la prévention des accidents nucléaires majeurs. C'est justement dans l'optique de mieux comprendre les phénomènes d'ébullition qui se produisent lors d'un RIA (Accident d'Insertion de Réactivité) que cette thèse a été financée par l'IRSN. Le RIA est un accident qui peut résulter d'une défaillance du mécanisme de la grappe contrôlant la réaction nucléaire. La réaction s'emballe pendant quelques dizaines de millisecondes (pulse de puissance) provoquant une augmentation rapide de la température du crayon de combustible et donc l'évaporation du liquide qui l'entoure. Des tests ont été faits par le passé soit sur des crayons de combustibles, soit sur des tubes chauffés ayant les mêmes dimensions qu'un crayon, afin d'améliorer la connaissance de ce phénomène. Par contre, les mesures étaient entachées d'incertitudes importantes, dues à des techniques de mesure non appropriées à des phénomènes si rapides. L'objectif de ce travail a été de concevoir et mettre en place une expérience capable de simuler un RIA à petite échelle, pour mieux comprendre les caractéristiques de l'ébullition lorsque la paroi monte en température très rapidement. De plus, ce dispositif expérimental devait être apte à étudier des montées en température moins violentes pour améliorer la connaissance de l'ébullition transitoire en général. Cette expérience a été conçue à l'Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse. Elle est constituée d'une feuille métallique d'acier de 50µm d'épaisseur, formée en demi cylindre (8mm de diamètre et 200mm de longueur) et chauffée par effet Joule. Elle est entourée par du fluide réfrigérant HFE7000, qui permet de travailler en similitude par rapport au cas réel en eau. Le fluide est confiné par un deuxième demi cylindre en verre, ayant 34mm de diamètre. Les expériences peuvent être en vase ou avec écoulement, écoulement qui a été caractérisé par des mesures PIV. Plusieurs débits peuvent donc être employés et le sous-refroidissement du liquide est aussi ajustable. L'emploi d'une alimentation pilotable et très flexible permet d'obtenir des chauffages du métal jusqu'à 2500K/s, mais aussi des montées en température plus faibles, pour tracer des courbes d'ébullition stationnaires ou faiblement transitoires. La température de la paroi est mesurée grâce à une caméra infrarouge, couplée à des visualisations rapides et à des mesures de pression et température dans le liquide. / Boiling phenomena can be found in the everyday life, thus a lot of studies are devoted to them, especially in steady state conditions. Transient boiling is less known but still interesting as it is involved in the nuclear safety prevention. In this context, the present work was supported by the French Institute of Nuclear Safety (IRSN). In fact, the IRSN wanted to clarify what happens during a Reactivity-initiated Accident (RIA). This accident occurs when the bars that control the nuclear reactions break down and a high power peak is passed from the nuclear fuel bar to the surrounding fluid. The temperature of the nuclear fuel bar wall increases and the fluid vaporises instantaneously. Previous studies on a fuel bar or on a metal tube heated by Joule effect were done in the past in order to understand the rapid boiling phenomena during a RIA. However, the measurements were not really accurate because the measurement techniques were not able to follow rapid phenomena. The main goal of this work was to create an experimental facility able to simulate the RIA boiling conditions but at small scale in order to better understand the boiling characteristics when the heated-wall temperature increases rapidly. Moreover, the experimental set-up was meant to be able to produce less-rapid transients as well, in order to give information on transient boiling in general. The facility was built at the Fluid-Mechanics Institute of Toulouse. The core consists of a metal half-cylinder heated by Joule effect, placed in a half-annulus section. The inner half cylinder is made of a 50 microns thick stainless steel foil. Its diameter is 8mm, and its length 200mm. The outer part is a 34mm internal diameter glass half cylinder. The semi-annular section is filled with a coolant, named HFE7000. The configuration allows to work in similarity conditions. The heated part can be place inside a loop in order to study the flow effect. The fluid temperature influence is taken into account as well. A flexible power supply that can generate a free-shape signal, allows to get to a wall-temperature increase rate up to 2500 K/s but also to obtain lower rates, which permits to study weaker transients and steady state conditions. The thermal measurements are realised by means of an infra-red camera and a high-speed camera is employed in order to see the boiling phenomena at the same time. From the voltage and current measurements the heat flux that is passed to the fluid is known.

<div>The continued miniaturization and demand for improved performance of electronic devices has resulted in the need for transformative thermal management strategies. Flow boiling is an attractive approach for the thermal management of devices generating high heat fluxes. However, designing heat sinks for two-phase operation and predicting their performance is difficult because of, in part, commonly encountered flow boiling instabilities and a lack of experimentally validated physics-based phase change models. This work aims to advance the state of the art by furthering our understanding of flow boiling instabilities and their implications on the operating characteristics of electronic devices. This is of particular interest under transient and non-uniform heating conditions because of recent advancements in embedded cooling techniques, which exacerbate spatial non-uniformities, and the demand for cooling solutions for next-generation electronic devices. Additionally, this work aims to provide a high-fidelity experimental characterization technique for slug flow boiling to enable the validation of physics-based phase change models.</div><div><br></div><div>To provide a foundation for which the effects of transient and non-uniform heating can be studied, flow boiling instabilities are first studied experimentally in a single, 500 μm-diameter borosilicate glass microchannel. A thin layer of optically transparent and electrically conductive indium tin oxide coated on the outside surface of the microchannel provides a spatially uniform and temporally constant heat flux via Joule heating. The working fluid is degassed, dielectric HFE-7100. Simultaneous high-frequency measurement of reservoir, inlet, and outlet pressures, pressure drop, mass flux, inlet and outlet fluid temperatures, and wall temperature is synchronized to high-speed flow visualizations enabling transient characterization of the thermal-fluidic behavior.</div><div><br></div><div>The effect of flow inertia and inlet liquid subcooling on the rapid-bubble-growth instability at the onset of boiling is assessed first. The mechanisms underlying the rapid-bubble-growth instability, namely, a large liquid superheat and a large pressure spike, are quantified. This instability is shown to cause flow reversal and can result in large temperature spikes due to starving the heated channel of liquid, which is especially severe at low flow inertia.</div><div><br></div><div>Next, the effect of flow inertia, inlet liquid subcooling, and heat flux on the hydrodynamic and thermal oscillations and time-averaged performance is assessed. Two predominant dynamic instabilities are observed: a time-periodic series of rapid-bubble-growth instabilities and the pressure drop instability. The heat flux, ratio of flow inertia to upstream compressibility, and degree of inlet liquid subcooling significantly affect the thermal-fluidic characteristics. High inlet liquid subcoolings and low heat fluxes result in time-periodic transitions between single-phase flow and flow boiling that cause large-amplitude wall temperature oscillations and a time-periodic series of rapid-bubble-growth instabilities. Low inlet liquid subcoolings result in small-amplitude thermal-fluidic oscillations and the pressure drop instability. Low flow inertia exacerbates the pressure drop instability and results in large-amplitude thermal-fluidic oscillations whereas high flow inertia reduces their severity.</div><div><br></div><div>Flow boiling experiments are then performed in a parallel channel test section consisting of two thermally isolated, heated microchannels to study the Ledinegg instability. When the flow in both channels is in the single-phase regime, they have equal wall temperatures due to evenly distributed mass flux delivered to each channel. Boiling incipience in one of the channels triggers the Ledinegg instability which induces a temperature difference between the two channels due to flow maldistribution. The temperature difference between the two channels grows with increasing power. The experimentally observed temperature excursion between the channels due to the Ledinegg instability is reported here for the first time.</div><div><br></div><div>Time-resolved characterization of flow boiling in a single microchannel is then performed during transient heating conditions. For transient heating tests, three different heat flux levels are selected that exhibit highly contrasting flow behavior during constant heating conditions: a low heat flux corresponding to single-phase flow (15 kW/m²), an intermediate heat flux corresponding to continuous flow boiling (75 kW/m²), and a very high heat flux which would cause critical heat flux if operated at this heat flux continuously (150 kW/m²). Transient testing is first conducted using a single heat flux pulse between these heat flux levels and varying the pulse time. It is observed that any step up/down in the heat flux level that induces/ceases boiling, causes the temperature to temporarily over/under-shoot the eventual steady temperature. Following the single heat flux pulse experiments, a time-periodic series of heat flux pulses is applied. A square wave heating profile is used with pulse frequencies ranging from 0.1 to 100 Hz and three different heat fluxes levels (15, 75, and 150 kW/m²). Three different time-periodic flow boiling fluctuations are observed: flow regime transitions, pressure drop oscillations, and heating pulse propagation. For heating pulse frequencies between approximately 1 and 10 Hz, the thermal and flow fluctuations are heavily coupled to the heating characteristics, forcing the pressure drop instability frequency to match the heating frequency. For heating pulse frequencies above 25 Hz, the microchannel wall attenuates the transient heating profile and the fluid essentially experiences a constant heat flux.</div><div><br></div><div>To improve our ability to predict the performance of heat sinks for two-phase operation, high-fidelity characterization of key hydrodynamic and heat transfer parameters during microchannel slug flow boiling is performed using a novel experimental test facility that generates an archetypal flow regime, devoid of flow instabilities and flow regime transitions. High-speed flow visualization images are analyzed to quantify the uniformity of the vapor bubbles and liquid slugs generated, as well as the growth of vapor bubbles over a range of heat fluxes. A method is demonstrated for measuring liquid film thickness from the visualizations using a ray-tracing procedure to correct for optical distortions. Characterization of the slug flow boiling regime that is generated demonstrates the unique ability of the facility to precisely control and quantify hydrodynamic and heat transfer characteristics.</div><div><br></div><div>This work has advanced state-of-the-art technologies for the thermal management of high-heat-flux-dissipation devices by providing an improved understanding on the effects of transient and non-uniform heating on flow boiling and an experimental method for the validation of physics-based flow boiling modeling.</div>