Analysis of Computational Fluid Dynamics Code FLUENT Capabilities for Supercritical Water Heat-Transfer Applications in Vertical Bare Tubes

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amjad Farah ◽  
Glenn Harvel ◽  
Igor Pioro
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Supercritical Water ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Bulk Fluid ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Turbulent Models ◽  
Multidimensional Effects

In this paper, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT was used to predict wall-temperature profiles inside vertical bare tubes with supercritical water (SCW) as the cooling medium, to assess the capabilities of FLUENT for SCW heat-transfer applications. Numerical results are compared to experimental data and current one-dimensional (1D) models represented by existing heat-transfer empirical correlations. Wall-temperature and heat-transfer coefficients were analyzed to select the best model to describe the fluid flow before, at, and after the pseudocritical region. k−ϵ and k−ω turbulent models were evaluated in the process, with variations in the submodel parameters such as viscous heating, thermal effects, and low-Reynolds-number correction. Results of the analysis show a fit of ±10% for wall temperatures using the SST k−ω model within the deteriorated heat-transfer regime and less than ±5% within the normal heat-transfer regime. The accuracy of the model is higher than any empirical correlation tested in the mentioned regimes and provides additional information about the multidimensional effects between the bulk-fluid and wall temperatures.

Investigation of Characteristic-Temperature Approaches for Heat-Transfer Correlations at Supercritical Conditions

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Mokry ◽  
Igor Pioro
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Supercritical Water ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
Characteristic Temperature ◽  
Fluid Temperature ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Supercritical Conditions ◽  
Bulk Fluid ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Bare Tube

It is expected that the next generation of water-cooled nuclear reactors will operate at supercritical pressures (∼25 MPa) and high coolant temperatures (350–625°C). In support of the development of SuperCritical Water-cooled Reactors (SCWRs), research is currently being conducted for heat-transfer at supercritical conditions. Currently, there are no experimental datasets for heat transfer from power reactor fuel bundles to the fuel coolant (water) available in open literature. Therefore, for preliminary calculations, heat-transfer correlations obtained with bare-tube data can be used as a conservative approach. A number of empirical generalized correlations, based on experimentally obtained datasets, have been proposed to calculate Heat Transfer Coefficients (HTCs) in forced convective heat transfer for various fluids, including water, at supercritical pressures. These bare-tube-based correlations are available in various literature sources. There have been a number of methods applied to correlate heat transfer data. The most conventional approach, which accounts for property variations in the data, is to modify the classical Dittus-Boelter equation for forced convection. However, analysis and comparison of these correlations has shown that differences in HTC values can be up to several hundred percent. In general, the familiar correlations of Dittus-Boelter and Bishop et al. have used the bulk-fluid temperature approach for characteristic temperature properties evaluations. However, at high heat fluxes, fluid near the tube-wall will have a temperature close to that of the wall temperature. This might be significantly different from the bulk-fluid temperature. Therefore, another approach can be used based on the wall temperature as the characteristic temperature. The Swenson et al. correlation is based upon this approach. Finally, a third approach has been considered in which the film-temperature is used as the characteristic temperature (Tf = (Tw+Tb) / 2). McAdams et al. based their correlation for annuli on this approach. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to evaluate the three characteristic temperature approaches, (1) Bulk-fluid temperature approach; (2) Wall-temperature approach; and (3) Film-temperature approach, and determine which characteristic temperature method can most accurately predict supercritical water heat transfer coefficients. Both classical correlations and more recently developed correlations are considered in this investigation.

Turbulent Heat Transfer Characteristics of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide for a Vertically Upward Flow in a Pipe Using Computational Fluid Dynamics and Artificial Neural Network

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajendra Prasad K S ◽  
Krishna V ◽  
Sachin Bharadwaj ◽  
Babu Rao Ponangi
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Turbulence Model ◽  
Turbulent Heat Transfer ◽  
Turbulent Heat ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Ansys Fluent ◽  
Artificial Neural ◽  
Turbulent Models

Abstract Modelling of turbulence heat transfer for supercritical fluids using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software is always challenging due to the drastic property variations near critical point. Use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) along with numerical methods have shown promising results in predicting heat transfer coefficients of heat exchangers. In this study, accuracy of four different turbulent models available in the commercial CFD software - Ansys Fluent is investigated against the available experimental results. The k-e Re Normalization Group (RNG) model with enhanced wall treatment is found to be the best-suited turbulence model. Further, K-e RNG Turbulence Model is used in CFD for parametric analysis to generate the data for ANN studies. A total of 1,34,698 data samples were generated and fed into the ANN program to develop an equation that can predict the heat transfer coefficient. It was found that, for the considered range of values the absolute average relative deviation is 3.49%.

Assessment of FLUENT Code as a Tool for SCW Heat Transfer Analysis

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amjad Farah ◽  
Glenn Harvel ◽  
Igor Pioro
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Supercritical Water ◽  
High Pressures ◽  
Stokes Equations ◽  
Heat Transfer Analysis ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Bulk Fluid ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients

Generation-IV SuperCritical Water-cooled Reactors (SCWRs) are expected to have high thermal efficiencies within the range of 45–50% owing to the reactor’s high pressures and outlet temperatures. The behavior of supercritical water however, is not well understood and most of the methods available to predict the effects of the heat transfer phenomena within the pseudocritical region are based on empirical one-directional correlations which do not capture the multi-dimensional effects and do not provide accurate results in regions such as the deteriorated heat transfer regime. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a numerical approach to model fluids in multidimensional space using the Navier-Stokes equations and databases of fluid properties to arrive at a full simulation of a fluid dynamics and heat transfer system. In this work, the CFD code, FLUENT-12, is used with associated software such as Gambit and NIST REFPROP to predict the Heat Transfer Coefficients at the wall and corresponding wall temperature profiles inside vertical bare tubes with SuperCritical Water (SCW) as the cooling medium. The numerical results are compared with experimental data and 1-D models represented by existing empirical correlations. Analysis of the individual heat-transfer regimes is conducted using an axisymmetric 2-D model of tubes of various lengths and composed of different nodalizations along the heated length. Wall temperatures and heat transfer coefficients were analyzed to select the best model for each region (below, at and above the pseudocritical region). Two turbulent models were used in the process: k-ε and k-ω, with variations in the sub-model parameters such as viscous heating, thermal effects, and low-Reynolds number correction. Results of the analysis show a fit of ±10% for the wall temperatures using the SST k-ω model in the deteriorated heat transfer regime and less than ±5% for the normal heat transfer regime. The accuracy of the model is higher than any empirical correlation tested in the mentioned regimes, and provides additional information about the multidimensional effects between the bulk-fluid and wall temperatures.

Comparison of Existing Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Heat Transfer Correlations for Horizontal and Vertical Bare Tubes

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prabu Surendran ◽  
Sahil Gupta ◽  
Tiberiu Preda ◽  
Igor Pioro
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Supercritical Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
Statistical Error ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Bulk Fluid ◽  
Heat Transfer Correlations ◽  
Supercritical Carbon

This paper presents a thorough analysis of ability of various heat transfer correlations to predict wall temperatures and Heat Transfer Coefficients (HTCs) against experiments on internal forced-convective heat transfer to supercritical carbon dioxide conducted by Koppel [1], He [2], Kim [3] and Bae [4]. It should be noted the Koppel dataset was taken from a paper which used the Koppel data but was not written by Koppel. All experiments were completed in bare tubes with diameters from 0.948 mm to 9 mm for horizontal and vertical configurations. The datasets contain a total of 1573 wall temperature points with pressures ranging from 7.58 to 9.59 MPa, mass fluxes of 400 to 1641 kg/m2s and heat fluxes from 20 to 225 kW/m2. The main objective of the study was to compare several correlations and select the best of them in predicting HTC and wall temperature values for supercritical carbon dioxide. This study will be beneficial for analyzing heat exchangers involving supercritical carbon dioxide, and for verifying scaling parameters between CO2 and other fluids. In addition, supercritical carbon dioxide’s use as a modeling fluid is necessary as the costs of experiments are lower than supercritical water. The datasets were compiled and calculations were performed to find HTCs and wall and bulk-fluid temperatures using existing correlations. Calculated results were compared with the experimental ones. The correlations used were Mokry et al. [5], Swenson et al. [6] and a set of new correlations presented in Gutpa et al. [7]. Statistical error calculations were performed are presented in the paper.

scholarly journals Heat dissipation from a stationary brake disc, Part 2: CFD modelling and experimental validations

2017 ◽  
Vol 232 (10) ◽  
pp. 1898-1924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Tirovic ◽  
Kevin Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Heat Dissipation ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Flow Visualisation ◽  
Brake Disc ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Static Conditions

Following from the analytical modelling presented in Part 1, this paper details a comprehensive computational fluid dynamics modelling of the three-dimensional flow field around, and heat dissipation from, a stationary brake disc. Four commonly used turbulence models were compared and the shear stress turbulence model was found to be most suitable for these studies. Inferior cooling of the anti-coning disc type is well known but the core cause in static conditions was only now established. The air flow exiting the lower vane channels at the inner rotor diameter changes direction and flows axially over the hat region. This axial flow acts as a blocker to the higher vane inlets, drastically reducing convective cooling from the upper half of the disc. The complexity of disc stationary cooling is further caused by the change of flow patterns during disc cooling. The above axial flow effects slowly vanish as the disc temperatures reduce. Consequently, convective heat transfer coefficients are affected by both, the change in the flow pattern and decrease in air velocities due to reduced air buoyancy as the disc cools down. As in Part 1, the special thermal rig was used to validate the computational fluid dynamics results quantitatively and qualitatively. The former used numerous thermocouples positioned strategically around the brake disc, with the latter introducing the concept of laser generated light plane combined with a smoke generator to enable flow visualisation. Predicted average heat transfer coefficients using computational fluid dynamics correlate well with the experimental values, and even two-dimensional analytical values (as presented in Part 1) reasonably closely follow the trends. The results present an important step in establishing cooling characteristics related to the electric parking brake application in commercial vehicles, with future publications detailing heat transfer from the entire brake assembly.

Supercritical Water Heat Transfer in a Vertical Bare Tube

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yevgeniy Gospodinov ◽  
Sarah Mokry ◽  
Pavel Kirillov ◽  
Igor Pioro
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Convective Heat Transfer ◽  
Convective Heat ◽  
Supercritical Water ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
Test Section ◽  
Bulk Fluid ◽  
Transfer Data ◽  
Normal Heat ◽  
Bare Tube

This paper presents selected results on heat transfer to supercritical water flowing upward in a 4-m-long vertical bare tube. Supercritical water heat-transfer data were obtained at pressures of about 24 MPa, mass fluxes of 200 – 1500 kg/m2s, heat fluxes up to 884 kW/m2 and inlet temperatures from 320 to 350°C for several combinations of wall and bulk-fluid temperatures that were below, at or above the pseudocritical temperature. In general, the experiments confirmed that there are three heat-transfer regimes for forced convective heat transfer to water flowing inside tubes at supercritical pressures: (1) normal heat-transfer regime characterized in general with heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) similar to those of subcritical convective heat transfer far from critical or pseudocritical regions, which are calculated according to the Dittus-Boelter type correlations; (2) deteriorated heat-transfer regime with lower values of the HTC and hence higher values of wall temperature within some part of a test section compared to those of the normal heat-transfer regime; and (3) improved heat-transfer regime with higher values of the HTC and hence lower values of wall temperature within some part of a test section compared to those of normal heat-transfer regime. These new heat-transfer data are applicable as a reference dataset for future comparison with supercritical-water bundle data and for a verification of scaling parameters between water and modeling fluids. Also, these HTC data were compared to those calculated with the original Dittus-Boelter and Bishop et al. correlations. The comparison showed that the Bishop et al. correlation, which uses the cross-section average Prandtl number, represents HTC profiles more correctly along the heated length of the tube than the Dittus-Boelter correlation. In general, the Bishop et al. correlation shows a good agreement with the experimental HTCs outside the pseudocritical region, however, overpredicts the experimental HTCs within the pseudocritical region. The Dittus-Boelter correlation can also predict the experimental HTCs outside the pseudocritical region, but deviates significantly from the experimental data within the pseudocritical region. It should be noted that both these correlations cannot be used for a prediction of HTCs within the deteriorated heat-transfer regime.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation of Supercritical Water Flow and Heat Transfer in a Rod Bundle With Grid Spacers

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malwina Gradecka ◽  
Roman Thiele ◽  
Henryk Anglart
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Water Flow ◽  
Supercritical Water ◽  
Complex Geometry ◽  
Inlet Section ◽  
Fluid Temperature ◽  
Rod Bundle ◽  
Flow And Heat Transfer

This paper presents a steady-state computational fluid dynamics approach to supercritical water flow and heat transfer in a rod bundle with grid spacers. The current model was developed using the ANSYS Workbench 15.0 software (CFX solver) and was first applied to supercritical water flow and heat transfer in circular tubes. The predicted wall temperature was in good agreement with the measured data. Next, a similar approach was used to investigate three-dimensional (3D) vertical upward flow of water at supercritical pressure of about 25 MPa in a rod bundle with grid spacers. This work aimed at understanding thermo- and hydrodynamic behavior of fluid flow in a complex geometry at specified boundary conditions. The modeled geometry consisted of a 1.5-m heated section in the rod bundle, a 0.2-m nonheated inlet section, and five grid spacers. The computational mesh was prepared using two cell types. The sections of the rods with spacers were meshed using tetrahedral cells due to the complex geometry of the spacer, whereas sections without spacers were meshed with hexahedral cells resulting in a total of 28 million cells. Three different sets of experimental conditions were investigated in this study: a nonheated case and two heated cases. The nonheated case, A1, is calculated to extract the pressure drop across the rod bundle. For cases B1 and B2, a heat flux is applied on the surface of the rods causing a rise in fluid temperature along the bundle. While the temperature of the fluid increases along with the flow, heat deterioration effects can be present near the heated surface. Outputs from both B cases are temperatures at preselected locations on the rods surfaces.

A CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) Based Thermal Performance of Solar Air Heater With Rib-Roughened Channels

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mumtaz Hussain Qureshi ◽  
M. Shakaib
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Solar Air Heater ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Turbulent Fluid Flow ◽  
Transfer Rates ◽  
Air Heater

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study is conducted to determine turbulent fluid flow and temperature profiles in rectangular ribbed channels of solar air heater. The results show significant effect of Reynolds number and ribs height and pitch on turbulence and heat transfer rates. When heat flux is defined at the bottom wall, the temperature values increase rapidly near the ribs due to stagnant zones. The heat transfer coefficients are lower at these locations. When heat flux is specified at the top wall, the variation in heat transfer coefficient is relatively smooth. From the research work, the channel containing ribs of 3mm and pitch 40mm are determined suitable due to higher heat transfer rates.

Computational fluid dynamics and experimental analysis of the heat transfer in a room with a roof solar chimney

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Adolfo Vazquez ◽  
Jose MA Navarro ◽  
Jesus Hinojosa ◽  
Dr. Jesús Xamán
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Experimental Analysis ◽  
Vertical Wall ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Heated Wall ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Solar Chimney

Abstract This study reports a numerical-experimental analysis of heat transfer and airflow in a scaled room with a heated wall coupled with a double-channel vertical roof solar chimney. For the experimental part, a parametric study was performed in the thermal system, considering different values of heat flux supplied to a vertical wall of the scaled room (75 and 150 W/m2) and the absorber surface of the solar chimney (151 and 667 W/m2). Experimental temperature profiles were obtained at six different depths and heights, and experimental heat transfer coefficients were computed for both heated surfaces. The renormalization group k-e turbulence model was evaluated against experimental data using computational fluid dynamics software. With the validated model, the effect of the heated wall and solar chimney on temperature fields, flow patterns, and heat transfer convective coefficients are presented and discussed. The cases with heat flux on the heated wall of the scaled room produce the biggest air changes per hour (ACH), being 30.1, 31.2, and 23.4 ACH for cases 1 to 3 respectively, while cases with no heated wall produce fewer ACH (11.72 and 12.28 for case 4 and 5). The comparison between cases with and without heat flux on one vertical wall but the same solar chimney heat flux shows that the ACH increases between 154 % and 156% respectively.

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