Update on advances in ow pattern based two-phase

heat transfer models

John R. Thome
*
Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology (STI), Laboratory of Heat and Mass Transfer (LTCM), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology,
Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Received 14 September 2003; received in revised form 27 April 2004; accepted 21 May 2004
Abstract
The ow pattern, simplied ow structure based evaporation model of Kattan et al. [J. Heat Transfer 120 (1998) 140; J. Heat
Transfer 120 (1998) 148; J. Heat Transfer 120 (1998) 156] has been updated several times since its original publication and also gen-
eralized to intube condensation. The current status of our work on this heat transfer prediction model and ow pattern map is de-
scribed here, covering the following topics: the onset of nucleate boiling, elimination of iterative calculations, evaporation of CO
2
up
to pressures as high as 64 bars for tube diameters from 0.9 to 10.0 mm, convective condensation inside horizontal tubes, and the
recent experimental verication of the drift ux void fraction model used by the ow pattern map and heat transfer model.
2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Design methods that are not only statistically accu-
rate and reliable but that also correctly capture the
trends in two-phase heat transfer coecients vs. the var-
ious design variables (x, G, q, D, etc.) are required for
system optimisation programs. Furthermore, designing
with a ow pattern map allows one to clearly see which
ow regimes the process will pass through, model the
process accordingly and identify potential transitions
to undesirable regimes, i.e. such as mist ow, in order
to avoid them. This requires integration of two disci-
plines: two-phase ow (uid dynamics experts primarily
interested in adiabatic ows) and two-phase heat transfer
(experts primarily interested in predicting condensation
and evaporation heat transfer coecients). In this light,
Kattan et al. [13] proposed a ow regime based, ow
boiling model for evaporation inside horizontal plain
tubes that has so far been successfully applied to ten
uids and extended to a similar method for predicting
intube condensation by Thome and coworkers [4,5].
Fig. 1 shows a representation of the simplied two-
phase ow structures they assumed. The present
objective to summarize our recent eorts, note some lim-
itations of the methods, and also make some comments
about the future.
2. Void fraction
Void fraction is the most important two-phase
parameter in ow pattern map transition calculations
and ow boiling heat transfer predictions. It is the
cross-sectional void fraction that is used. The Steiner [6]
version of the Rouhani and Axelsson [7] drift ux type
of void fraction model is used in our methods, all for
horizontal ows:
e
x
q
V
_
1 0:121 x
x
q
V

1 x
q
L
_ _

1:181 xgrq
L
q
V

0:25
Gq
0:5
L
_
1
1
0894-1777/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.expthermusci.2004.05.015
*
Tel.: +41 21 693 5981; fax: +41 21 693 5960.
E-mail address: john.thome@ep.ch
www.elsevier.com/locate/etfs
Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 29 (2005) 341349
Kattan et al. [1,3] used this void fraction model in their
original ow boiling heat transfer model and now also in
the most updated version of their ow pattern map (dis-
cussed in next section). In their ow boiling model, the
cross-sectional void fraction is used for computing the
annular lm expression for the convective boiling contri-
bution to ow boiling heat transfer as:
a
cb
0:0133Re
0:69
L
Pr
0:4
L
k
L
d
2
where the liquid lm Reynolds number Re
L
is based on
the mean liquid velocity in the lm:
Re
L

4G1 xd
1 el
L
3
The convective boiling heat transfer coecient in annu-
lar ow is thus very sensitive to void fraction and the
empirical values of 0.0133 and 0.69 in Eq. (2) are inu-
enced by the choice of the void fraction model.
In order to learn more about cross-sectional void
fractions in horizontal evaporating ows, Wojtan et al.
[8] have developed a new laser optical method developed
by Ursenbacher et al. [9] to measure them. Fig. 2 shows
a comparison of the Rouhani and Axelsson void frac-
tion equation to their data for R-22 at a mass velocity
of 150 kg/m
2
s at 5 C in a horizontal 13.84 mm sight
glass tube located at the exit of their evaporator test sec-
tion. Each void fraction data point shown represents the
time-averaged value of the instantaneous void fractions
measured in about 900 consecutive images processed by
their specially developed image processing software. For
this test condition and those at mass velocities of 70, 100
and 200 kg/m
2
s for R-22 and for 70, 150, 200 and 300
kg/m
2
s for R-410A, all at 5 C, in this sight glass for
stratied-wavy and stratied ows (including slug ows
Nomenclature
A
LD
dimensionless area occupied by liquid-phase
A
VD
dimensionless area occupied by vapor-phase
c
pL
specic heat of the liquid, J/kg s
c
pV
specic heat of the vapor, J/kg s
D tube diameter, m
F
1
(q) heat ux function
F
2
(q) heat ux function
g gravitational acceleration, 9.81 m/s
2
G mass velocity of liquid plus vapor, kg/m
2
s
G
bubbly
bubbly ow transition mass velocity, kg/m
2
s
G
min
minimum in G
mist
transition mass velocity,
kg/m
2
s
G
mist
mist ow transition mass velocity, kg/m
2
s
G
strat
stratied ow transition mass velocity, kg/
m
2
s
G
wavy
wavy ow transition mass velocity, kg/m
2
s
h
LV
latent heat of vaporization, J/kg
M molecular weight
n exponent
Pr
L
liquid Prandtl number
p
r
reduced pressure
q heat ux, W/m
2
q
crit
critical heat ux of nucleate pool boiling, W/
m
2
q
ONB,x
local heat ux for onset of nucleate boiling,
W/m
2
r
crit
critical radius for nucleation, m
R radius of tube, m
Re
L
liquid Reynolds number
S velocity ratio
T
sat
saturation temperature, K
We
L
liquid Weber number
X
tt
Martinelli parameter
x vapor quality
x
IA
vapor quality from intermittent to annular
ow
x
min
vapor quality at G
min
a
cb
convective boiling heat transfer coecient,
W/m
2
K
a
cb,h
local heat transfer coecient for q
ONB,x
, W/
m
2
K
a
nb
nucleate boiling heat transfer coecient, W/
m
2
K
a
nb,CO
2
nucleate boiling coecient of CO
2
, W/m
2
K
a
tp
two-phase boiling heat transfer coecient,
W/m
2
K
a
V
vapor-phase heat transfer coecient, W/m
2
K
a
wet
heat transfer coecient on wet perimeter, W/
m
2
K
d thickness of annular liquid lm, m
e cross-sectional vapor void fraction
k
L
liquid thermal conductivity, W/m K
k
V
vapor thermal conductivity, W/m K
l
L
liquid dynamic viscosity, Ns/m
2
l
V
vapor dynamic viscosity
h
dry
dry angle of tube perimeter, rad
h
strat
stratied ow angle of tube perimeter, rad
q
L
liquid density, kg/m
3
q
V
vapor density, kg/m
3
r surface tension, N/m
342 J.R. Thome / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 29 (2005) 341349
at low vapor qualities), the measured values agree very
well with this void fraction model. Hence, the present
void fraction expression, Eq. (1), has been veried to
be very accurate, at least at these test conditions.
3. Flow pattern maps and transition criteria
Numerous ow pattern maps have been proposed
over the years for predicting two-phase ow regime
transitions in horizontal and vertical tubes under adia-
batic conditions. The map of Taitel and Dukler [10] is
probably the most widely quoted for horizontal tubes.
Kattan et al. [11,12], however, found that the TaitelDu-
kler map only correctly identied about 50% of their
ow pattern observations in their study. In response,
Kattan et al. [1] proposed a new version of the Steiner
[6] ow pattern map, which in fact is a modied version
of the original TaitelDukler map.
This KattanThomeFavrat map for adiabatic and
evaporating ows in horizontal tubes was originally
compared to 702 ow pattern observations for R-134a,
R-123, R-502, R-402A and R-404A, getting 96% of their
observations correct. Subsequently, Zu rcher et al. [13]
found the map to work just as well for 84 new ow pat-
tern observations for R-407C (a zeotropic mixture) that
were not part of the original database. Next, Zu rcher
et al. [14] obtained two-phase ow pattern data for
ammonia in a 14 mm bore sight glass at mass velocities
from 20 to 140 kg/m
2
s at a saturation temperature of 4
C. These tests allowed two threshold boundaries, those
of annular ow to/from stratied-wavy ow and strati-
ed-wavy ow to/from stratied ow, to be further per-
fected. Minor modications were made to the ow
pattern map, now backed by over 1000 ow pattern
observations for seven dierent refrigerants. The data-
base at that point included sight glass diameters of 12
and 14 mm but the map is probably valid over a wider
range. So far the map has been compared to our internal
database for R-123, R-134a, R-502, R-402A, R-404A,
R-407C and ammonia at pressures from 1.1 to 8.9 bar.
In addition, in recent tests not yet published, we have
also found good agreement of the ow pattern map to
R-22 and R-410A in a new 13.84 mm sight glass, the lat-
ter for observations at 9.3 bar.
Regarding improvements to the KattanThome
Favrat map transition equations, Zu rcher et al. [14] pro-
posed small changes to two threshold boundaries, those
for annular ow to/from stratied-wavy ow and strat-
ied-wavy ow to/from stratied ow, based on new
observations for ammonia that targeted these two tran-
sitions. Zu rcher [15] and Zu rcher et al. [16] then de-
scribed a new more advanced version of the ow
pattern map that better respects the ammonia ow pat-
tern observations but is in fact quite complex to imple-
ment. It used the TaitelDukler void fraction model
for fully stratied ows, the RouhaniAxelsson void
fraction model for intermittent and annular ows and
interpolates between these two for void fractions in
stratied-wavy ows. Also, it includes a dissipation
function in the annular ow to/from stratied-wavy ow
and stratied-wavy ow transition equation. Essentially,
the entire set of equations of the ow pattern map must
be iterated to nd the transition curves, which is physi-
cally logical but burdensome to implement for general
practice. As a practical option, a new easier to imple-
ment version of the map was proposed by Thome and
El Hajal [17] that is the recommended version to use
and it is described below (but with several new improve-
ments added here).
In Fig. 3, the transition curve between stratied-wavy
ow and intermittent and annular ow is determined
Fig. 1. Flow structures for annular, stratied-wavy and fully stratied
ows (left to right in bottom three diagrams) and for fully stratied
ow and its lm ow equivalent (top two diagrams).
Fig. 2. Comparison of RouhaniAxelsson drift ux model to R-22
data.
J.R. Thome / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 29 (2005) 341349 343
using the updated expression of Zu rcher et al. [14] for
G
wavy
, where G
wavy
is in kg/m
2
s:
G
wavy

16A
3
VD
gDq
L
q
V
x
2
p
2
1 2h
LD
1
2

0:5
_

p
2
25h
2
LD
1 x
F
1
q
We
Fr
_ _
F
2
q
L
1
_ __
0:5
50 75 exp
x
2
0:97
2
x1 x
_ _
4
The dimensionless parameters are dened in the orig-
inal publication. Similarly, the transition curve from
stratied-wavy ow to fully stratied ow is determined
using the other updated expression of Zu rcher et al. [14]
for G
strat
, where G
strat
is in kg/m
2
s:
G
strat

226:3
2
A
LD
A
2
VD
q
V
q
L
q
V
l
L
g
x
2
1 xp
3
_ _1=3
20x 5
The other transition curves are determined as in the
original method. The non-dimensional empirical expo-
nents F
1
(q) and F
2
(q) were added to the G
wavy
boundary
equation to include the eect of heat ux on the onset of
dryout of the annular lm, i.e. the transition of annular
ow into annular ow with partial dryout, the latter
which is classied as stratied-wavy ow by the map.
Based on new data we have just obtained at high heat
uxes and high vapor qualities, it has been found that
the heat ux eect was too strong in the original version
and should be diminished; hence, here we have intro-
duced a more realistic factor of one-half in the original
expressions and these parameters are now determined
as:
F
1
q 646:0
q=2
q
crit
_ _
2
64:8
q=2
q
crit
_ _
6a
F
2
q 18:8
q=2
q
crit
_ _
1:023 6b
where the critical heat ux q
crit
is used to normalize the
local heat ux:
q
crit
0:131q
1=2
V
h
LV
gq
L
q
V
r
1=4
7
The one-half factor delays the onset of dryout to
higher vapor qualities than in the original method.
One further improvement to remove completely any
iteration in the application of these equations is the
introduction of the recent explicit expression of Biberg
[18] to very accurately (error %0.00005 rad for
2p Ph
strat
P0) evaluate h
strat
in terms of void frac-
tion:
h
strat
2p 2 p1 e
3p
2
_ _
1=3
1 21 e 1 e
1=3
e
1=3
_
_

1
200
1 ee1 21 e 1 4 1 e
2
e
2
_ _ _ _
_
8
Fig. 3 illustrates the map in a G vs. x format that is
easier to read than loglog maps, showing the Thome
and El Hajal [17] version of the map applied to
R-134a with its properties at 4 C for two diameters of
tube. It should be pointed out that so far no attempt
has been made to experimentally verify the transition
to bubble ow in the ow pattern map. It occurs at very
high mass velocities, considerably above normal design
and test conditions. The transition to mist ow from
annular ow is part on a current experimental program
in the LTCM laboratory. Initial results show that this
transition is a strong function of heat ux, falling to
considerably lower mass velocities as the heat ux in-
creases.
4. Intube evaporation
Kattan et al. [3] proposed a ow regime based heat
transfer model for evaporation inside horizontal tubes.
They began by assuming simplied geometries repre-
sentative of the two-phase ow structures for the three
most important ow patterns and developed a new ow
pattern map for identifying when a particular ow re-
gime would occur. Their simplied ow structure geom-
etries for describing annular, stratied-wavy and fully
stratied-wavy ows are shown in Fig. 1. Annular ows
with partial dryout around the top of the tube were con-
sidered to be stratied-wavy ows and are thus modelled
accordingly. Flow structures for the intermittent, mist
ow and bubbly ow regimes have yet to be proposed
(their development is the topic of ongoing research).
Intermittent ows, i.e. stratied ow with large ampli-
tude waves continuously wetting the top perimeter of
the tube, are currently modelled using the annular ow
structure.
Fig. 3. Two-phase ow pattern map illustrating transition curves
(S=stratied, SW=stratied-wavy, I =intermittent, A=annular,
MF=mist ow).
344 J.R. Thome / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 29 (2005) 341349
In Fig. 1, for annular ow in the lower left diagram,
the variation in the thickness of the lm from top to bot-
tom is ignored for the sake of simplicity and a uniform
thickness is assumed. Utilizing a void fraction equation,
the area occupied by the vapor-phase is determined and
hence that too of the liquid-phase, such that the lm
thickness is calculable from the cross-sectional area of
the tube. Knowing the total ow of liquid plus vapor
and the local vapor quality, the mass ow rate of the liq-
uid is easily calculated and together with its density, the
mean velocity of the liquid can lie determined in the lm.
Hence, turbulent ow heat transfer to the lm can be
correlated based on the mean velocity of the liquid lm
and lm thickness. Realistically, lm ow is modelled
rather than tubular ow as in the previous methods,
avoiding the use of two-phase convection multipliers.
The actual geometry for fully stratied ow is shown
in the upper left in Fig. 1 (without bubbles originating
from nucleate boiling) while its equivalent geometry is
assumed to be a truncated annular ring as shown in
the upper and lower diagrams at the right. The stratied
angle h
strat
is calculated from the cross-sectional area
occupied by the liquid in the upper left diagram and is
then used to determine the wetted angle in the diagram
at the right, where for simplicity the liquid lm is as-
sumed to have a uniform thickness. The liquid lm
thickness can be calculated for the truncated annular
ring using the same area as in the upper left diagram,
which also then allows the mean liquid velocity to be
determined.
For stratied-wavy ow, the liquid waves are small in
amplitude and do not reach the top of the tube. Hence
the top perimeter of the tube is continuously dry, similar
to fully stratied ow. For simplicity, the liquid is again
assumed to be distributed uniformly in an annular trun-
cated ring as shown in the middle diagram at the bottom
of Fig. 1. The dry angle h
dry
varies between its maximum
value of h
strat
at the threshold to fully stratied ow and
its minimum value of zero at the threshold to annular
ow where the wall is always all wet. Hence, these three
simple geometries have a smooth geometrical transition
from one ow structure to another and also allow the
heat transfer models to be based on the mean liquid
and vapor velocities. The evaporation heat transfer coef-
cient is applied to the wetted perimeter while a single-
phase vapor heat transfer coecient is calculated for
the dry perimeter. Thus, while ignoring numerous de-
tails of the ow structure, the present geometries repre-
sent the principal features. Annular ow with partial
dryout of the upper perimeter of the tube is thus mod-
elled as stratied-wavy ow because of its similarity to
this simplied ow structure. These simplied ow
structure geometries were selected to make them geo-
metrically continuous at the transition from one ow
pattern to another and hence not introduce a step-
change in the local heat transfer coecient when passing
from one regime to another. Intermittent ow has a
complex, periodic type of two-phase ow structure and
for now it has been modelled with success assuming it
is equivalent to an annular ow to predict heat transfer.
The general expression of the KattanThomeFavrat
model for the local ow boiling coecient, a
tp
for a tube
with an internal radius R is:
a
tp

Rh
dry
a
V
R2p h
dry
a
wet
2pR
9
The heat transfer coecient a
wet
on the wetted tube
perimeter of R(2ph
dry
) is obtained with an asymptotic
equation that combines the nucleate boiling coecient
a
nb
and the convective boiling coecient a
cb
as:
a
wet
a
3
nb
a
3
cb

1=3
10
where a
nb
is determined with the correlation of Cooper
[19] setting the surface roughness to 1 lm to obtain:
a
nb
55p
0:12
r
log
10
p
r

0:55
M
0:5
q
0:67
11
while a
cb
is for annular liquid lm ow:
a
cb
0:0133
4G1 xd
1 el
L
_ _
0:69
Pr
0:4
L
k
L
d
12
The above equation includes the liquid lm Reynolds
number Re
L
, based on the mean liquid velocity in the
annular lm, which is a local function of the vapor qual-
ity, annular liquid lm thickness d, and vapor void frac-
tion e. Notice in particular that modelling the liquid ow
as a lm ow eliminates the need for the empirical two-
phase multiplier found in other methods. Also, an asymp-
totic method weighs the relative importance of a
nb
and
a
cb
, and no boiling suppression factor is included. The
vapor-phase heat transfer coecient a
V
is obtained with
the DittusBoelter correlation assuming tubular ow
over the dry perimeter of the tube (Rh
dry
) in Fig. 1, so
that:
a
V
0:023
GxD
el
V
_ _
0:8
c
pV
l
V
k
V
_ _
0:4
k
V
D
13
The RouhaniAxelsson [7] drift ux void fraction
model, Eq. (1), is used for e.
A new onset of nucleate boiling criterion has been
proposed by Zurcher and coworkers [15,20] for evapora-
tion in horizontal plain tubes. Their expression for the
local heat ux for the onset of nucleate boiling is q
ONB,h
:
q
ONB;x

2rT
sat
a
cb;h
r
crit
q
V
h
LV
14
where the critical nucleation radius r
crit
has been set to a
xed value of 0.3810
6
m. Thus, when q<q
ONB,x
,
there is no nucleate boiling in the ow and a
nb
=0.
The local convective heat transfer coecient a
cb,h
is
the local ow boiling convective heat transfer coecient
at the location of the thickest liquid lm around the
J.R. Thome / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 29 (2005) 341349 345
perimeter of the tube (i.e. always the bottom), which de-
pends on the type of ow regime (stratied, stratied-
wavy or annular) and the lm thickness at that location.
They presented methods to estimate this thickness for
these three ow patterns. They successfully compared
their new method to ow boiling data for ammonia over
mass velocities from 10 to 140 kg/m
2
s. However, the
geometrical aspects to implement this new method are
rather complex and an easier approach is being sought.
This is a modied criterion of that proposed by Steiner
and Taborek [21], who assumed a xed value of a
cb,h
equal to that for turbulent ow in the tube for all ow
as liquid but which does not respond to the variation
in local ow conditions.
Our inhouse database of ow boiling heat transfer
data is still expanding to new uids and a wider range
of test conditions, now with our fourth test section. Cur-
rently, the uids R-410A and R-22 have been added to
the database for evaporation inside a new test section
of 13.84 mm internal diameter, results which are de-
scribed in Wojtan and Thome [22]. Figs. 4 and 5 show
several graphs representative of the comparison to the
KattanThomeFavrat ow boiling model at low heat
uxes. In general the comparison is quite accurate with
the following exceptions. First of all, the ow map iden-
ties the vapor quality for the onset of dryout as a func-
tion of heat ux and this is where the peak in heat
transfer coecient vs. vapor quality occurs, so that an
error of only a few percent in vapor quality (either pre-
dicted or measured) as seen in Fig. 4 can have a dra-
matic eect on heat transfer after the peak, a situation
that is dicult to remedy but has been improved in
Eqs. (6a) and (6b). The large predicted amplitude in
the peak results from the thickness of the annular lm
d becoming very thin at high void fractions where e ap-
proaches its limit of unity. At low vapor qualities
(x<0.15), the ow boiling model tends to underpredict
local heat transfer coecients quite consistently; this
seems to be occurring for stratied-wavy ows that are
just to the left of the threshold to intermittent ow on
the ow pattern map at low vapor qualities.
Kabelac and de Buhr [23] measured local ow boiling
coecients for evaporation of ammonia inside a 10.0
mm ID plain tube made of aluminum. They made accu-
rate measurements using condensing ammonia on the
outside of the tube as the heating medium and also ac-
counted for axial heat conduction eects from the result-
ing temperature gradient. They compared their data at 4
C to those of Zu rcher et al. [14] for their 14.0 mm stain-
less steel tube, nding nearly the same results and trends,
and showed that the KattanThomeFavrat heat trans-
fer model predicted their data very accurately as shown
in Fig. 6.
Fig. 4. Flow boiling data for R-410A compared to KattanThome
Favrat ow boiling model.
Fig. 5. Flow boiling data for R-22 compared to KattanThome
Favrat ow boiling model.
Fig. 6. Ammonia ow boiling data of Kabelac and de Buhr [23].
346 J.R. Thome / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 29 (2005) 341349
5. Extension of evaporation model to CO
2
An updated version of the KattanThomeFavrat
ow boiling heat transfer model for horizontal tubes
has been proposed by Thome and El Hajal [24] speci-
cally for CO
2
. Because CO
2
is a special uid and used
at much higher evaporating pressures compared to our
previous database, it was found necessary to rst correct
the Cooper nucleate pool boiling correlation to better
describe CO
2
at high reduced pressures and secondly
to include a boiling suppression factor on the nucleate
boiling heat transfer coecient to capture the trends in
the ow boiling data at conditions in which nucleate
boiling dominates, i.e. where a
nb
>a
cb
. The new method
predicts 73% of the CO
2
database (404 data points) to
within 20% and 86% to within 30% over the vapor
quality range of 291%. The database covers ve tube
diameters from 0.79 to 10.06 mm, mass velocities from
85 to 1440 kg/m
2
s, heat uxes from 5 to 36 kW/m
2
, sat-
uration temperatures from 25 to +25 C and satura-
tion pressures from 1.7 to 6.4 MPa (reduced pressures
up to 0.87). Considering the challenge to accurately
measure CO
2
heat transfer coecients to within 15%
with the majority of the values above 10,000 W/m
2
K,
and some reaching values as large as 25,000 W/m
2
K,
this is quite a reasonable result. Also, it should be noted
that it is easier to predict convective boiling dominated
results than nucleate boiling dominated results since
the latter are aected by the micro-roughness of the tube
interior. The new model captures the trends in a
tp
vs.
vapor quality over the wide range of mass velocities, sat-
uration temperatures and heat uxes represented in the
database.
As an example, Fig. 7 shows a simulation of the heat
transfer coecient vs. vapor quality for evaporation of
CO
2
in a 6.0 mm tube at two dierent mass velocities.
Notice the eect of the high nucleate boiling coecient
is to give very high performance at low vapor qualities
and the fallo with increasing vapor quality towards
convective boiling domination results from the boiling
suppression of the ow. Since the adverse eect of boil-
ing suppression is directly proportional to the mass
velocity via the liquid Reynolds number, a higher mass
velocity can result in lower heat transfer performance
as shown for these conditions.
6. Extension to intube condensation
A new general application ow pattern based heat
transfer model and ow pattern map for condensation
inside horizontal, plain tubes has been proposed by
Thome and coworkers [4,5] based on the same simplied
ow structures of the ow regimes illustrated in Fig. 1,
with the exception that the upper tube in stratied ows
is covered by a falling lm of condensation. The ow
pattern map was modied to handle condensation as op-
posed to adiabatic ows or evaporating ows at high
vapor quality and also to make it applicable up to very
high reduced pressures. The condensation heat transfer
model also includes the eect of roughness of the liq-
uidvapor interface of the lm on heat transfer. The
model resorts to very few empirical constants and expo-
nents compared to other previous condensation meth-
ods and predicts local condensation heat transfer
coecients for the following ow regimes: annular,
intermittent, stratied-wavy, fully stratied and mist
ow. The new condensation model has so far been tested
for the following range of conditions obtained for a very
broad experimental database of fteen uids measured
in nine dierent laboratories: mass velocities from
24 to 1022 kg/m
2
s, vapor qualities from 0.03 to 0.97,
Fig. 7. Simulation of CO
2
ow boiling heat transfer coecient vs.
vapor quality at two mass velocities. Fig. 8. Comparison of condensation heat transfer model to database.
J.R. Thome / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 29 (2005) 341349 347
reduced pressures from 0.02 to 0.80 and tube internal
diameters from 3.1 to 21.4 mm. Overall, the method pre-
dicts 85% of the refrigerant heat transfer coecients
in the database (1850 points) to within 20% and
also gives comparable results for the hydrocarbon heat
transfer coecients in the database (921 points). Fig. 8
depicts a comparison of the new model to their refriger-
ant database. Thus, it is signicant that the current ow
pattern, simplied two-phase ow structure approach
has now been shown to work well for both intube evap-
oration and intube condensation.
7. New challenges for the future
There are many challenges still facing us with respect
to ow boiling heat transfer in horizontal tubes. Some of
the issues we are currently addressing are:
Location of the mist ow transition boundary (experi-
mental database partially obtained);
Prediction of mist ow heat transfer coecients (exper-
imental database partially obtained);
Development of new, less dicult to apply, onset of
nucleate boiling criterion (in immediate plans);
Extension of the heat transfer model to high reduced
pressures (done only for CO
2
);
Inclusion of boiling suppression factor in the asymptotic
method (done only for CO
2
);
Prediction of the dry angle as a function of ow condi-
tions (experimental database partially obtained);
Improvement of heat transfer model and map at low
vapor qualities (database obtained for x<0.15).
On the other hand, obtaining a heat transfer database
for bubbly ow and development of a bubbly ow heat
transfer model are a low priority because of the very
high mass velocities involved to reach this regime and
the few practical applications at this condition.
8. Summary
The improvements to the ow pattern based boiling
model and ow pattern map of Kattan et al. [13] over
the past few years have been described. The current sta-
tus of this heat transfer prediction model and ow pat-
tern map is presented here, including the eects of
onset of nucleate boiling, a new version of the ow pat-
tern map and heat transfer model without any itera-
tions, its recent extension to prediction of evaporation
of CO
2
up to pressures as high as 64 bars intube dia-
meters from 0.9 to 10.0 mm, its extension to modelling
of condensation inside horizontal tubes, and the recent
experimental verication of the drift ux void fraction
model used by the ow pattern map and heat transfer
model. Some limitations of the current state of the meth-
ods are noted and future directions for further improve-
ments are also cited.
Acknowledgment
Preparation of this review was sponsored in part by
the Swiss National Science Foundation under contract
no. 21/57210.99.
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