Critical heat flux in subcooled flow boiling - An Assessment of current understanding and future directions for research

Critical Heat Flux, or CHF, is an important condition that defines the upper limit of safe operation of heat transfer equipment employing boiling heat transfer in heat flux controlled systems. Although significant research has been conducted in this field, a clear understanding of the basic mechanisms leading to the CHF condition is still lacking. The present article covers the subcooled flow boiling CHF and reviews the parametric trends and photographic studies reported by earlier investigators. An in-depth review of the existing models is presented in light of these studies, and further research needs are identified.