A UNIFIED MODEL FOR THE PREDICTION OF BUBBLE DETACHMENT DIAMETERS IN BOILING SYSTEMS .1. POOL BOILING

A new model is proposed for the prediction of vapor bubble departure d iameters in saturated pool boiling. The model utilizes a force balance which follows a similar form as that used by Klausner et al. (Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 36, 651-662 (1993)) for flow boiling. The vapor bu bble growth rate is a necessary input to the model, and its reliable e stimation is required to predict accurately departure diameters. The m odel has been tested over the following range of conditions: pressure, 0.02-2.8 bar; Jakob number, 4-869; and gravity, 1-0.014 g. It is demo nstrated that over the wide range of boiling data considered the depar ture diameter predicted using the present model is significantly impro ved over existing correlations.