Numerical Simulation of Single Bubble Pool Boiling in Different Gravity Conditions

In this paper, the growth processes of a single bubble on a fixed single site in different gravity are numerically investigated for saturated water at 0.1 MPa. The departure diameter decreases with the decrease of the wall superheat, while the growth period increases. Both the growth period and departure diameter decrease with the decrease of the contact angle, but increase with the decrease of gravity. The numerical results of single bubble boiling indicate that the heat transfer through the micro-wedge region has a very important contribution to the whole heat transfer in boiling. The area-averaged heat fluxes in different gravity are approximately proportional to the 1.5th power of the wall superheat when the number density of active nucleation sites fixes, which is consistent with empirical correlation based on experiments in normal gravity.