Image Analysis of Flow Maldistribution during Boiling in Parallel Minichannels

The boiling flow of distilled water with reverse flow in three parallel, rectangular, horizontal minichannels was investigated. The analyzed data was in the form of a set of video frames. An image analysis and statistical analysis of changes of pixel brightness in minichannels was conducted. A self-organizing process was identified for short slug flow in neighboring minichannels. The identified synchronization process was accompanied by the increase in standard deviation of pixel brightness changes. The process of synchronization was observed for short slugs, but not for long slugs. It can be concluded that the synchronization of heat and mass transfer in minichannels can be achieved when the character of two-phase flow patterns in each channel is not fully blocking the flow.