A physical model for predicting annular film flow droplet entrainment in heat transfer systems

The ability to accurately predict droplet entrainment in annular two-phase flow is required to effectively calculate the interfacial mass, momentum, and energy transfer, which characterizes nuclear reactor safety, system design, analysis, and performance. Most annular flow entrainment models in the open literature are formulated in terms of dimensionless groups, which do not directly account for interfacial instabilities. However, many researchers agree that there is a clear presence of interfacial instability phenomena having a direct impact on droplet entrainment. The present study proposes a model for droplet entrainment, based on the underlying physics of droplet entrainment from co-current upward annular film flow that is characteristic to Light Water Reactor (LWR) safety analysis. The model is developed based on force balance and a stability analysis that can be implemented into a transient three-field (continuous liquid, droplet, and vapor) two-phase heat transfer and fluid flow analysis computer code.