Rewetting of an infinite tube with a uniform heating

Abstract

The two-dimensional quasi-steady conduction equation governing conduction controlled rewetting of an infinite tube, with outer surface flooded and the inside surface subjected to a constant heat flux, has been solved by Wiener-Hopf technique. The solution yields the quench front temperature as a function of various model parameters such as Peclet number, Biot number and dimensionless heat flux. Also, the dryout heat flux is obtained by setting the Peclet number equal to zero, which gives the maximum sustainable heat flux to prevent the dryout of the coolant.