Computational Analysis of Fluid Flow in Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Using Different Turbulence Models

Author(s):  
Akshay Gandhir ◽  
Yassin Hassan

A steady state computational study was done to obtain the pressure drop estimation in different packed bed geometries, and describe the fluid flow characteristics for such complex structures. Two out of the three Bravais lattices were analyzed, namely, simple cubic (symmetric) and body centered cubic (staggered). STARCCM+ commercial CFD software from CD-ADAPCO was used to simulate the flow. To account for turbulence effects standard k-epsilon and realizable k-epsilon models were used. Various cases were analyzed with Modified Reynolds number ranging from 10,000 to 50,000. Each model showed different results as far as the velocity and flow structure is concerned. However, for each case the flow structure showed similar features such as vortex formation downstream and between pebbles due to complex flow separation [1]. The pressure drop obtained from each model was found to be in reasonable agreement with the existing data.

2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 611-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Su ◽  
D. Lee ◽  
R. Tran-Son-Tay ◽  
W. Shyy

The fluid flow through a stenosed artery and its bypass graft in an anastomosis can substantially influence the outcome of bypass surgery. To help improve our understanding of this and related issues, the steady Navier-Stokes flows are computed in an idealized arterial bypass system with partially occluded host artery. Both the residual flow issued from the stenosis—which is potentially important at an earlier stage after grafting—and the complex flow structure induced by the bypass graft are investigated. Seven geometric models, including symmetric and asymmetric stenoses in the host artery, and two major aspects of the bypass system, namely, the effects of area reduction and stenosis asymmetry, are considered. By analyzing the flow characteristics in these configurations, it is found that (1) substantial area reduction leads to flow recirculation in both upstream and downstream of the stenosis and in the host artery near the toe, while diminishes the recirculation zone in the bypass graft near the bifurcation junction, (2) the asymmetry and position of the stenosis can affect the location and size of these recirculation zones, and (3) the curvature of the bypass graft can modify the fluid flow structure in the entire bypass system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranjith Kumar Valaparla ◽  
Karthik Balasubramanian ◽  
Kupireddy Kiran Kumar

AbstractPurpose: Numerical investigation was carried out to study the hydro-thermal characteristics in circular wavy microchannels (CWMCs) with sidewall rib. Thermal resistance and pressure drop penalty were compared with sinusoidal wavy microchannels (SWMCs) design. Parametric study on sidewall rib was also carried to minimize the pressure drop penalty and to achieve lower thermal resistance. Introducing sidewall rib in the CWMCs leads to the formation of more Deans vortices. This leads to an effective fluid mixing and augments the convective heat transfer. Design methodology/approach: A computational solid domain was created in SOLIDWORKS and the fluid domain was produced by circular arc profile for the entire length of heat sink. 3-D numerical investigation was carried out using ANSYS FLUENT software. Created computational domain was imported into ANSYS WORKBENCH. Meshing was executed in ANSYS mesh module. The computational domains were meshed using hexahedral elements adopting match control on both sides of microchannel (MC). The numerical investigation was carried out in the Re range from 100 to 300 with constant heat flux (50 W/cm2) applied at the bottom of the channel. Heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics were explained with velocity vectors, velocity contours and temperature contours. Findings: From numerical studies, it is concluded that CWMC with sidewall rib width (0.15 mm) leads to 33.6 % lower thermal resistance than SWMC with pressure drop penalty. Originality/Value: Present study is useful to identify the optimum deign to augment the heat dissipation performance of microchannel heat sink.


Author(s):  
Valaparla Ranjith Kumar ◽  
Karthik Balasubramanian ◽  
K. Kiran Kumar

Hydrothermal characteristics in circular wavy microchannels (CWMCs) with bifurcation plate have been numerically studied and compared with hydrothermal performance of sinusoidal wavy microchannels (SWMCs). Numerical study were carried out considering the Reynolds number (Re) ranging from 100 to 300. It was observed that, as the fluid flows through CWMC, it continuously absorbs heat from the channel leading to decrease in the temperature difference between the channel and the fluid. Hence, heat dissipation along the channel length decreases. To augment the heat dissipation along the fluid flow direction in CWMC, bifurcation plate (BFP) is introduced in the middle of the channel. CWMC with bifurcation plate has shown higher Nusselt number (Nu) with pressure drop penalty. The parametric study on bifurcation plate length was also carried out to minimize the pressure drop penalty and to achieve higher Nu. It is identified that CWMC with bifurcation plate length of 12.5 mm gives higher Nu with pressure drop penalty. Nu is further enhanced by providing slots on bifurcation plate. It is concluded that CWMC with BFP(10 mm) having slots gives the highest Nu than any other designs with pressure drop penalty.


Author(s):  
M. P. Wang ◽  
T. Y. Wu ◽  
J. T. Horng ◽  
C. Y. Lee ◽  
Y. H. Hung

A series of experimental investigations with a stringent measurement method on the study of the fluid flow behavior for confined compact heat sinks in forced convection have been successfully conducted. In the present study, a theoretical model to effectively predict the velocity and pressure drop for partially-confined heat sinks has been successfully developed. The air velocities flowing into heat sink Us through side bypass U1 and top bypass U2 for various 0.47<H/Hc<1 ratios are evaluated, where H/Hc is the ratio of the heat sink height to channel height. The maximum and average deviations of the velocities predicted by the present model from the experimental data are less than 20.31% and 13.13%, respectively, for confined compact heat sinks. Besides, the results show a good agreement between the predicted results and the experimental data of the pressure drop for the cases of H/Hc = 1. Nevertheless, the relative deviation of the predictions from the experimental data becomes more significant with decreasing H/Hc ratio, i.e., increasing the top bypass of confined compact heat sink. A new modified correlation of pressure drop including the H/Hc effect is presented. The maximum and average deviations of the results predicted by the new correlation from the experimental data are 14.48% and 7.72%, respectively.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyosung Choo ◽  
Sung Jin Kim

In this study, heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of nonboiling two-phase flow in microchannels were experimentally investigated. The effects of channel diameter (140, 222, 334, and 506 μm) on the Nusselt number and the pressure drop were considered. Air and water were used as the test fluids. Results were presented for the Nusselt number and the pressure drop over a wide range of gas superficial velocity (1.24–40.1 m/s), liquid superficial velocity (0.57–2.13 m/s), and wall heat flux (0.34–0.95 MW/m2). The results showed that the Nusselt number increased with increasing gas flow rate for the large channels of 506 and 334 μm, while the Nusselt number decreased with increasing gas flow for the small channels of 222 and 140 μm. Based on these experimental results, a new correlation for the forced convection Nusselt number was developed. In addition, the two-phase friction multiplier is shown to decrease as channel diameter decreases due to the influence of viscous and surface tension forces.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-44
Author(s):  
Endro Junianto ◽  
Jooned Hendrarsakti

Microfluidic use in various innovative research, many fields aimed at developing an application device related to handling fluid flows in miniature scale systems. On the other hand, on the use of micro-devices for fluid flow the existence of bends cannot be avoided. This research aims to make a comprehensive study of fluid flow characteristics through a microchannel with several possible bends. This study was conducted by comparing Reynolds number versus pressure drop in a serpentine microchannel to gain bends loss coefficient. The result showed that the fluid flow with Re 100 did not affect the pressure drop, but on the Reynolds number above that, the pressure drop was increased along with the appears of vortices in the outer and inner walls around the channel bends which causes an increase in an additional pressure drop. The other finding shows that the reduction in diameter bend tube can increase the pressure drop.


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