Flow headers are commonly used in nuclear reactors, boilers and heat exchangers to distribute fluid to branches or to combine flow from the branches along the header. In CANDU reactors the main heat transport system divides the flow from the pumps into approximately 120 individual feeder pipes which then direct the flow into separate fuel channels. Historically, nuclear safety analysis has been performed using one-dimensional averaged system codes, and as such the headers are cross-sectionally averaged. In this paper, flow distribution and pressure gradients along a multi-branch header have been predicted using the three dimensional computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT and were compared to results obtained from experimental data obtained from literature for single phase conditions. In order to assess FLUENTs capabilities this study was performed by comparing the predictions against separate effects experiments conducted on a smaller sized header available in literature. For these experiments, water inlet flow rate was varied and flow rates in the header branches were measured. The aim of this work is to validate FLUENT software for predicting flow distribution and pressure gradients in single phase flow in such a multi-branch geometry. The effects of flow model, grid density, convergence criteria, flow inlet velocity and header size on the computational results were studied. Vortex formation and flow separation were also studied and compared to the experimentally observed flow behaviour.
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16th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering
May 11–15, 2008
Orlando, Florida, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Nuclear Engineering Division
ISBN:
0-7918-4815-9
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Validation of FLUENT for Prediction of Flow Distribution and Pressure Gradients in a Multi-Branch Header Under Low Flow Conditions
A. Muhana,
A. Muhana
McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
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D. R. Novog
D. R. Novog
McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Search for other works by this author on:
A. Muhana
McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
D. R. Novog
McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Paper No:
ICONE16-48128, pp. 221-226; 6 pages
Published Online:
June 24, 2009
Citation
Muhana, A, & Novog, DR. "Validation of FLUENT for Prediction of Flow Distribution and Pressure Gradients in a Multi-Branch Header Under Low Flow Conditions." Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering. Volume 2: Fuel Cycle and High Level Waste Management; Computational Fluid Dynamics, Neutronics Methods and Coupled Codes; Student Paper Competition. Orlando, Florida, USA. May 11–15, 2008. pp. 221-226. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE16-48128
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