Onset of Flow Instability in a Heated Capillary

The capillary flow with distinct evaporative meniscus is described in the frame of the quasi-dimensional model. The effect of heat flux and capillary pressure oscillations on the stability of laminar flow at small and moderate Peclet number is estimated. It is shown that the stable stationary flow with fixed meniscus position occurs at low wall heat fluxes (Pe -Cl), whereas at high wall heat fluxes Pe 1, the exponential increase of small disturbances takes place. The latter leads to the transition from stable stationary to an unstable regime of flow with oscillating meniscus. 

Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer and Boiling in Micro-Channels Springer 2009 

Chapter 11 consists of following Sect. 11.2 deals with the pattern of capillary flow in a heated micro-channel with phase change at the meniscus. The perturbed equations and conditions on the interface are presented in Sect. 11.3. Section 11.4 contains the results of the investigation on the stability of capillary flow at a very small Peclet number. The effect of capillary pressure and heat flux oscillations on the stability of the flow is considered in Sect. 11.5. Section 11.6 deals with the study of capillary flow at a moderate Peclet number. 

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The onset of flow instability in a heated capillary with vaporizing meniscus is considered in Chap 11. The behavior of a vapor/liquid system undergoing small perturbations is analyzed by linear approximation, in the frame work of a onedimensional model of capillary flow with a distinct interface. The effect of the physical properties of both phases, the wall heat flux and the capillary sizes on the flow stability is studied. A scenario of a possible process at small and moderate Peclet number is considered. The boundaries of stability separating the domains of stable and unstable flow are outlined and the values of the geometrical and operating parameters corresponding to the transition are estimated. 

Carey VP (1992) Liquid-vapour phase-change phenomena. Hemisphere, Washington, DC Collier SP (1981) Convective boiling and condensation. McGraw-Hill, New York Ha JM, Peterson GP (1998) Capillary performance of evaporation flow in micro grooves an analytical approach for very small tilt angles. ASME J Heat Transfer 120 452 57 Hetsroni G, Yarin LP, Pogrebnyak E (2004) Onset of flow instability in a heated capillary tube. Int J Multiphase Flow 30 1424-1449... 

Peles el al. (2000) elaborated on a quasi-one-dimensional model of two-phase laminar flow in a heated capillary slot due to liquid evaporation from the meniscus. Subsequently this model was used for analysis of steady and unsteady flow in heated micro-channels (Peles et al. 2001 Yarin et al. 2002), as well as the study of the onset of flow instability in heated capillary flow (Hetsroni et al. 2004). 

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