Large Eddy Simulation Study on Forced Convection Heat Transfer to Water at Supercritical Pressure in a Trapezoid Annulus

It is now well known that heat transfer to fluid at supercritical pressure in a confined channel shows complex behaviors. This is due to the strong variations of the thermal–physical properties resulting from the changes of pressure and temperature. To improve the reliability and efficiency of the supercritical water-cooled reactors (SCWRs) to be designed, the understanding of supercritical fluid flow in the fuel assemblies is very important. The study reported here reconsiders a simplified geometry made of a trapezoid channel enclosing an inner rod to simulate the triangular arrangement of a fuel assembly. Large eddy simulation (LES) with the wall adapting local eddy viscosity (WALE) model is used to simulate the forced convection flow in the channel. Supercritical water at 25 MPa is used as the working fluid. The Reynolds number of flow based on the hydraulic diameter and the bulk velocity is 10,540, while the heat flux from the inner rod wall has been varied from 10 kW/m2 to 75 kW/m2. Large unsteady flow structures are observed to be present due to the nonuniformity of the cross section of the flow channel. The characteristics of the flow structures and their effect on the local heat transfer are analyzed using instantaneous velocities, spectrum analysis, and correlation analysis. The swinging flow structures in the wide gap are much weaker than those in the narrow gap. The behaviors of such large flow structures are influenced by the strong spatial and temporal variations of the properties. When the temperature distribution follows Tb < Tpc < Tw, the mixing parameters due to the large flow structures, including mixing coefficient and effective mixing velocity in the gap, are also significantly influenced.