Progress in the Large-Scale Simulation of Convective Boiling Heat Transfer Under Turbulent Conditions Using TransAt

A detailed numerical analysis of the turbulent convective flow along the heated rods of an idealized PWR sub-channel is investigated. The key predicted quantity is the length at which the rod surface temperature reaches nucleation temperature, approximated here as the saturation temperature. The turbulent effects are modeled using LES with very high grid resolution (∼6 million cells) allowing resolving the viscous-affected layer. In a second step, boiling nucleation is triggered artificially and vapor bubbles are allowed to interact with the turbulent flow. We’ll thoroughly discuss the results, including comparing the turbulence data basis with single-phase flow conditions, and the effect of boiling on the flow.