Volume 53

Data-driven dimensional analysis of flow boiling critical heat flux in microgravity Kuang Yang, Zhicheng Liang, Yunhao Zhang, Xinying Wang, Qiang Li, Haijun Wang

Abstract

Energy management in deep space exploration poses significant challenges for the stable and safe operation of thermal management systems. The critical heat flux (CHF) in flow boiling, as a key safety threshold for two-phase heat transfer systems, must be thoroughly investigated. The current work introduces a data-driven dimensional analysis method that can automatically discover characteristic dimensionless numbers from physical data. This approach addresses the issues of non-uniqueness and the inability to measure the importance of results inherent in the classic Buckingham Pi theorem. By collecting CHF datasets of different fluid media under both Earth’s gravity and space microgravity conditions in vertical tubes, the algorithm identified the most influential dimensionless number affecting the boiling number Bochf during boiling crises and determined the corresponding exponential scaling relationship. This led to the development of a new CHF predictive correlation applicable across different fluids and conditions. Comparison results with several other models indicate that the proposed correlation offers higher accuracy and can potentially be used in the design and optimization of high-power thermal management systems for space, lunar, and Martian environments.

Keywords microgravity, critical heat flux, data-driven dimensional analysis, scaling law