Large eddy simulation of a helical coil steam generator test section

Jonathan K. Lai, Elia Merzari, Marilyn Delgado, Samuel J. Lee, Saya Lee, Yassin A. Hassan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The helical coil steam generator (HCSG) is a compact heat exchanger that can have high heat transfer even when the pressure drop is low. This makes it advantageous in small modular reactors and high-temperature reactor designs. In order to investigate the fluid phenomena around these helical banked tubes, a test section was built at Texas A&M University to represent flow across two half-rods within HCSG. This study focuses on the validation of large eddy simulation (LES) for this particular geometry. Pressure tap and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements have been recorded at an inlet Reynolds number of 8643, and both mean and fluctuating data is compared with the numerical results. The highly scalable spectral-element code Nek5000 has been used to produce the LES calculations. First, simulations of varying polynomial order expansions are made to determine the spatial resolution required to capture the turbulent scales. Then, simulations with different inlet conditions are compared with experimental data. The pressure drop shows good agreement with pressure tap measurements while velocity shows similar characteristics with PIV. Furthermore, the components of the Reynolds stresses and modes from proper orthogonal decomposition have been developed to validate the physics captured.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSymposia
Subtitle of host publicationFluid Measurement and Instrumentation; Fluid Dynamics of Wind Energy; Renewable and Sustainable Energy Conversion; Energy and Process Engineering; Microfluidics and Nanofluidics; Development and Applications in Computational Fluid Dynamics; DNS/LES and Hybrid RANS/LES Methods
PublisherAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
ISBN (Electronic)9780791858059
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
EventASME 2017 Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting, FEDSM 2017 - Waikoloa, United States
Duration: Jul 30 2017Aug 3 2017

Publication series

NameAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers, Fluids Engineering Division (Publication) FEDSM
Volume1B-2017
ISSN (Print)0888-8116

Other

OtherASME 2017 Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting, FEDSM 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWaikoloa
Period7/30/178/3/17

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Mechanical Engineering

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