ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a review of the fundamentals of liquid-vapor two-phase flows without phase change, i.e., for adiabatic conditions. Liquid boiling can take place via different processes depending on the specific mechanism and the geometric configuration. The liquid temperature levels and distributions adjacent to the heater surface are influenced by buoyancy and can in turn influence nucleation and bubble growth rates. Vapor bubble nucleation takes place when the local temperature of the liquid in the vicinity of the heating surface exceeds the saturation temperature. The degree of superheat necessary for nucleation depends on the microgeometry of the solid surface, the sohd/fluid properties, the surface temperature of the solid, and the temperature distribution in the liquid. Inhomogeneous condensation occurs when the bulk vapor phase molecules interact with the bulk liquid/solid phase molecules, exchanging momentum and energy and becoming bulk liquid phase molecules.
