In this paper, we investigate the effect of a periodic perturbation of total pressure drop on density wave oscillations (DWOs) in a boiling channel (BC). The focus is on the nonlinear dynamics and control of the DWO at low forcing frequencies f(f)(+) for a range of inlet subcooling number N-sub. At a relatively high N-sub, the system exhibits frequency entrainment. Relying on the harmonic balance applied to the linearized model for DWOs, semi-analytical solutions can successfully explain the numerically-detected harmonic entrainment The effect of 17 and Nsub on the periodically-perturbed DWOs has been studied. We also propose a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) to control the periodically-forced DWOs. The performance of NMPC was found to be improving on increasing Nsub and on decreasing f(f)(+) in 0 <= f(f)(+) < 2f(n)(+) (f(n)(+) is natural frequency), except the regions of entrainment. Both the numerical simulations. and the semi-analytical solutions consistently predict the control effort that also varies with f(f)(+) and N-sub. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.