Numerical simulation of evaporating two-phase flow: application to concentrated solar plants with direct steam generation

Overview & Synopsis

Numerical simulations using CFD are conducted on a boiling two-phase flow in order to study the changes in flow patterns during evaporation. A model for heat and mass transfer at the tube inner wall and at the liquid-gas interface is presented. Transport of two custom scalars is solved: one stands for the enthalpy fields in the flow, the other represents a new dispersed vapor phase in the liquid. A correlation is used to model heat and mass transfer at the tube inner wall. The dispersed phase is created at the surface in the liquid and flows up to the liquid-vapor interface. There, it is transformed into actual vapor phase. The multiphase VOF model is validated for the creation of slugs in an horizontal tube for an adiabatic flow. Results are presented for a subcooled boiling flow in a bend.