Effect of surface curvature on confined jet impingement boiling

Surface topography such as concave curvatures offer a simple and compact solution to reduce the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) of impinging jets by increasing surface area, average streamwise surface velocity, and normal pressure gradients. These factors actively contribute to increased bubble departure, thereby enhancing boiling. Furthermore, surface curvature influences the formation of Taylor-Görtler vortices which enhance turbulent mixing.

In this study, we implement the Eulerian RPI boiling model coupled to a standard RANS turbulent model (such as k-epsilon RNG) to simulate the boiling phenomena resulting from a turbulent jet of liquid nitrogen impinging onto concave surface subject to constant heat flux.

Our results are validated against the boiling curve and wall-superheat obtained from the experimental work of Zhang et al. [2010]. Our results from an in-depth parametric study reveal the influence of surface curvature, Reynolds number, dimensionless nozzle height, and confinement domain size on the boiling curves. These findings provide valuable insights into the design and optimization of surfaces for enhanced jet impingement boiling in confined environments.