Destabilization mechanisms and scaling laws of convective boiling in a minichannel

Convective flow boiling in a minichannel is presently analyzed. A 889-m hydraulic diameter minichannel is used for the experiments conducted at several heat fluxes provided to the minichannel for variable inlet mass flow rates. A local analysis of the two-phase flow behavior through pressure and temperature measurements is detailed in the paper. Based on the flow boiling behavior, a destabilization mechanism is proposed on the vapor plug formation assumption. A theoretical criterion of the two-phase How destabilization is proposed using a simplified model. The approach is compared with the experimental results. A scaling law is found with a nondimensional analysis of the experimental results.