Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Molecular dynamics study of liquid sodium film evaporation and condensation by Lennard-Jones potential

  • Wang, Zetao (State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Shaanxi Key Lab of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Guo, Kailun (State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Shaanxi Key Lab of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Wang, Chenglong (State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Shaanxi Key Lab of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Zhang, Dalin (State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Shaanxi Key Lab of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Tian, Wenxi (State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Shaanxi Key Lab of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Qiu, Suizheng (State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Shaanxi Key Lab of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Su, Guanghui (State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Shaanxi Key Lab of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University)
  • Received : 2021.10.04
  • Accepted : 2022.02.13
  • Published : 2022.08.25
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Abstract

Deeply understanding the phase change of thin liquid sodium film inside wick pore is very important for further studying high-temperature sodium heat pipe's heat transfer. For the first time, the evaporation and condensation of thin liquid sodium film are investigated by the Lennard-Jones potential of molecular dynamics. Based on the startup and normal operation of the sodium heat pipe, three different cases are simulated. First, the equilibrium is achieved and the Mass Accommodation Coefficients of the three cases are 0.3886, 0.2119, 0.2615 respectively. Secondly, the non-equilibrium is built. The change of liquid film thickness, the number of gas atoms, the net evaporation flux (Jnet), the heat transfer coefficient (h) at the liquid-gas interface are acquired. Results indicate that the magnitude of the Jnet and the h increase with the basic equilibrium temperature. In 520-600 K (the startup of the heat pipe), the h has approached 5-6 W m-2 K-1 while liquid film thickness is in 11-13 nm. The fact shows that during the initial startup of the sodium heat pipe, the thermal resistance at the liquid-gas interface can't be negligible. This work is the complement and extension for macroscopic investigation of heat transfer inside sodium heat pipe. It can provide a reference for further numerical simulation and optimal design of the sodium heat pipe in the future.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work is carried out under the financial support of a project funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.U2067208) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. BX2021236).

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