Experimental and Numerical Modeling of Transition Matrix From Momentum to Buoyancy-Driven Flow in a Pressurized Water Reactor

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Ho¨hne ◽  
So¨ren Kliem ◽  
Roman Vaibar
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Transition Matrix ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Wire Mesh ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Water Reactor ◽  
Ansys Cfx ◽  
Mass Flow Rates

The influence of density differences on the mixing of the primary loop inventory and the Emergency Core Cooling (ECC) water in the cold leg and downcomer of a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) was analyzed at the ROssendorf COolant Mixing (ROCOM) test facility. This paper presents a matrix of ROCOM experiments in which water with the same or higher density was injected into a cold leg of the reactor model with already established natural circulation conditions at different low mass flow rates. Wire-mesh sensors measuring the concentration of a tracer in the injected water were installed in the cold leg, upper and lower part of the downcomer. A transition matrix from momentum to buoyancy-driven flow experiments was selected for validation of the CFD software ANSYS CFX. A hybrid mesh with 4 million elements was used for the calculations. The turbulence models usually applied in such cases assume that turbulence is isotropic, whilst buoyancy actually induces anisotropy. Thus, in this paper, higher order turbulence models have been developed and implemented which take into account for that anisotropy. Buoyancy generated source and dissipation terms were proposed and introduced into the balance equations for the turbulent kinetic energy. The results of the experiments and of the numerical calculations show that mixing strongly depends on buoyancy effects: At higher mass flow rates (close to nominal conditions) the injected slug propagates in the circumferential direction around the core barrel. Buoyancy effects reduce this circumferential propagation with lower mass flow rates and/or higher density differences. The ECC water falls in an almost vertical path and reaches the lower downcomer sensor directly below the inlet nozzle. Therefore, density effects play an important role during natural convection with ECC injection in PWR and should be also considered in Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS) scenarios. ANSYS CFX was able to predict the observed flow patterns and mixing phenomena quite well.

Experimental and Numerical Modeling of Transition Matrix From Momentum to Buoyancy-Driven Flow in a Pressurized Water Reactor

2008 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Höhne ◽  
Sören Kliem ◽  
Roman Vaibar
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Transition Matrix ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Wire Mesh ◽  
Pressurized Water Reactor ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Water Reactor ◽  
Ansys Cfx ◽  
Mass Flow Rates

The influence of density differences on the mixing of the primary loop inventory and the emergency core cooling (ECC) water in the cold leg and downcomer of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) was analyzed at the Rossendorf coolant mixing (ROCOM) test facility. This paper presents a matrix of ROCOM experiments in which water with the same or higher density was injected into a cold leg of the reactor model with already established natural circulation conditions at different low mass flow rates. Wire-mesh sensors measuring the concentration of a tracer in the injected water were installed in the cold leg, upper and lower part of the downcomer. A transition matrix from momentum to buoyancy-driven flow experiments was selected for validation of the computational fluid dynamics software ANSYS CFX. A hybrid mesh with 4×106 elements was used for the calculations. The turbulence models usually applied in such cases assume that turbulence is isotropic, whilst buoyancy actually induces anisotropy. Thus, in this paper, higher order turbulence models have been developed and implemented, which take into account that anisotropy. Buoyancy generated source and dissipation terms were proposed and introduced into the balance equations for the turbulent kinetic energy. The results of the experiments and of the numerical calculations show that mixing strongly depends on buoyancy effects: At higher mass flow rates (close to nominal conditions) the injected slug propagates in the circumferential direction around the core barrel. Buoyancy effects reduce this circumferential propagation with lower mass flow rates and/or higher density differences. The ECC water falls in an almost vertical path and reaches the lower downcomer sensor directly below the inlet nozzle. Therefore, density effects play an important role during natural convection with the ECC injection in PWR and should be also considered in pressurized thermal shock scenarios. ANSYS CFX was able to predict the observed flow patterns and mixing phenomena quite well.

CFD Analysis for the Turbulent Flow Distribution in a Fuel Assembly with the Split-Type Mixing Vanes by Using the Advanced Scale-Resolving Turbulence Models

2015 ◽  
Vol 752-753 ◽  
pp. 902-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gong Hee Lee ◽  
Ae Ju Cheong
Keyword(s):  
Turbulent Flow ◽  
Fuel Assembly ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Measured Data ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Detached Eddy Simulation ◽  
Axial Velocity Component ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Ansys Cfx ◽  
Significant Difference

In general, the turbulent flow inside PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) fuel assembly depends on the mixing vane configuration and the pattern of the mixing vane arrangement on the strap of the spacer grid. In this study, in order to examine the turbulent flow structure inside fuel assembly with the split-type mixing vanes, simulations were conducted with the commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software, ANSYS CFX R.14. Two different types of turbulence models, i.e. SAS (Scale-Adaptive Simulation)-SST (Shear Stress Transport) and DES (Detached Eddy Simulation), were used. The predicted results were compared with the measured data from the MATiS-H (Measurement and Analysis of Turbulent Mixing in Subchannels-Horizontal) test facility. Although there were locally differences between the prediction and the measurement, ANSYS CFX R.14 predicted the time averaged velocity field in the reliable level. The predicted horizontal and vertical velocity components were more in agreement with the measured data than the axial velocity component. There was no significant difference in the prediction accuracy of both turbulence models.

scholarly journals Net-exergetic, hydraulic and thermal optimization of coaxial heat exchangers using fixed flow conditions instead of fixed flow rates

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Blanke ◽  
Markus Hagenkamp ◽  
Bernd Döring ◽  
Joachim Göttsche ◽  
Vitali Reger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Laminar Flow ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Heat Exchangers ◽  
Circular Ring ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Mass Flow Rates ◽  
Pipe Radius

AbstractPrevious studies optimized the dimensions of coaxial heat exchangers using constant mass flow rates as a boundary condition. They show a thermal optimal circular ring width of nearly zero. Hydraulically optimal is an inner to outer pipe radius ratio of 0.65 for turbulent and 0.68 for laminar flow types. In contrast, in this study, flow conditions in the circular ring are kept constant (a set of fixed Reynolds numbers) during optimization. This approach ensures fixed flow conditions and prevents inappropriately high or low mass flow rates. The optimization is carried out for three objectives: Maximum energy gain, minimum hydraulic effort and eventually optimum net-exergy balance. The optimization changes the inner pipe radius and mass flow rate but not the Reynolds number of the circular ring. The thermal calculations base on Hellström’s borehole resistance and the hydraulic optimization on individually calculated linear loss of head coefficients. Increasing the inner pipe radius results in decreased hydraulic losses in the inner pipe but increased losses in the circular ring. The net-exergy difference is a key performance indicator and combines thermal and hydraulic calculations. It is the difference between thermal exergy flux and hydraulic effort. The Reynolds number in the circular ring is instead of the mass flow rate constant during all optimizations. The result from a thermal perspective is an optimal width of the circular ring of nearly zero. The hydraulically optimal inner pipe radius is 54% of the outer pipe radius for laminar flow and 60% for turbulent flow scenarios. Net-exergetic optimization shows a predominant influence of hydraulic losses, especially for small temperature gains. The exact result depends on the earth’s thermal properties and the flow type. Conclusively, coaxial geothermal probes’ design should focus on the hydraulic optimum and take the thermal optimum as a secondary criterion due to the dominating hydraulics.

Numerical Investigation of Local Cooling Enhancement Using Pin-Finned Channel With Incremental Impingement

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susheel Singh ◽  
Sumanta Acharya ◽  
Forrest Ames
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Cross Flow ◽  
Surface Cooling ◽  
Local Cooling ◽  
Stagnation Region ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Pin Fins ◽  
Mass Flow Rates ◽  
The Impact

Flow and heat transfer in a low aspect ratio pin-finned channel, representative of an internally cooled turbine airfoil, is investigated using Large Eddy Simulations (LES). To achieve greater control of surface cooling distribution, a novel approach has been recently proposed in which coolant is injected incrementally through a series of holes located immediately behind a specially designed cutout region downstream of the pin-fins. Sheltering the coolant injection behind the pin-fins avoids the impact of the cross-flow buildup that deflects the impingement jet and isolates the surface from cooling. The longitudinal and transverse spacing of the pin-fins, arranged in a staggered fashion, is X/D = 1.046 and S/D = 1.625, respectively. The aspect ratio (H/D) of pin-fin channel is 0.5. Due to the presence of the sequential jets in the configuration, the local cooling rates can be controlled by controlling the jet-hole diameter which impacts the jet mass flow rate. Hence, four different hole diameters, denoted as Large (L), Medium (M) , Small (S), Petite (P) are tested for impingement holes, and their effects are studied. Several patterns of the hole-size distributions are studied. It is shown that the peak Nusselt number in the stagnation region below the jet correlates directly with the jet-velocity, while downstream the Nusselt numbers correlate with the total mass flow rates or the average channel velocity. The local cooling parameter defined as (Nu/Nu0)(1-ε) correlates with the jet/channel mass flow rates.

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