Chaotic Characteristics Analysis on Recognition of Steam Plume Flow Pattern of Direct Contact Condensation in a Rectangular Channel

Chaotic characteristics of direct contact condensation(DCC) for steam jet in subcooled water in a rectangular channel were analyzed at subcooled water temperature of 30 °C. The steam mass flux and Reynolds number of subcooled water were in the range of 250-600kg/(m²s) and 78,000-172,000 respectively. Three different flow patterns, bubble flow, oscillation jet and stable jet, were observed. Correlation dimension(D₂) changes with flow patterns. For bubble flow, oscillation jet and stable jet, the corresponding correlation dimension values increase and are in the ranges of 9.68∼10.30, 10.03∼11.17 and 11.10∼12.62, respectively. Different flow patterns have different Hurst exponent(H). From the range of correlation dimensions and Hurst exponents, the flow pattern of steam jet can be recognized without looking the picture of steam plume. This result is very important for flow pattern recognition without the observation windows.