CFD Analysis of the Primary Side in a Helical-Coil Once-Through Steam Generator

The helical-coil once-through steam generator (OTSG) is usually used in the nuclear power plant when the compactness of equipment was taken into consideration. The investigation of flow parameters in the primary side is valuable for the optimization of the OTSG. The purpose of this research is to obtain a further understanding of fluid behaviors in the primary side of the OTSG to achieve a more rational design. Using ANSYS ICEM and ANSYS FLUENT, a three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was created and analyzed. Through a series of cases, the velocity profiles and pressure drop through the primary side of the helical-coil OTSG have been calculated, and the influences of different structure designs on the coolant flow parameters have also been tested. Ultimately some pertinent suggestions for improvements were proposed, and insight is obtained into the importance of various modeling considerations in such a model with a complicated structure and large-scale grids.