• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.654-662
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• 2017

When emergency core cooling system (ECCS) is operated during loss of coolant accident (LOCA) in a pressurized water reactor (PWR), pressurized thermal shock (PTS) phenomenon can occur as cooling water is injected into a cold leg, mixed with hot primary coolant, and then entrained into a reactor vessel. Insufficient flow mixing may cause temperature stratification and steam condensation. In addition, flow vibration may cause thermal stresses in surrounding structures. This will reduce the life of the reactor vessel. Due to the importance of PTS phenomenon, in this study, calculation was performed for Test 1 among six types of OECD/NEA ROSA tests with ANSYS CFX R.17. Predicted results were then compared to measured data. Additionally, because temperature difference between the hot coolant at the inlet of the cold leg and the cold cooling water at the inlet of the ECCS injection line is 200 K or more, buoyancy force due to density difference might have significant effect on thermal-hydraulic characteristics of flow. Therefore, in this study, the necessity to include buoyancy force term in governing equations for accurate prediction of single phase thermal stratification in both cold legs and downcomer by ECCS injection was numerically studied.

• Solar Energy
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.46-56
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• 1988

This investigation concerns thermal stratification of the water due to the temperature difference (${\Delta}T=T_{\infty}-T_i$) between the mean temperature of the water in the test tank (1m wide, 1m high, 2.1m long) and the temperature of the inflow water into the tank; flow rate of circulating water and height of the sink diffuser in the test tank. The additional objectives was to observe a stratification phenomena near an interface by measuring the velosities and the temperature difference and investigate an availabilities of the better effective hot water through establishing thermocline near an interface around the bottom of the tank. Following results were obtained through the experiments. 1. When the flow rate was constant and the temperature difference (${\Delta}T=T_{\infty}-T_i$) between the mean temperature of the flow in the test tank and the temperature of the inflow water increased by 5.6, 9.5, 13.5($^{\circ}C$), obtained the better effective advantage of hot water and the stress near an interface increased gradually. 2. When the ${\Delta}T=T_{\infty}-T_i$ was constant and flow rate increased by 4.0, 4.8, 6.4, 8.0 (LPM), obtained the better effective advent age of hot water and the mean stress near an interface increased gradually. 3. When the height of the sink diffuser was 25cm from tank bottom in comparison with 50cm, obtained the better effective advantage of hot water and the mean stress near an interface increased.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.10 no.4 s.31
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• pp.12-17
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• 2005

A computational study of evaluation of current turbulence models is performed for a better prediction of thermal stratification in an upper plenum of a liquid metal reactor. The turbulence models tested in the present study are the two-layer model, the shear stress transport (SST) model, the v2-f model and the elliptic blending mode(EBM). The performances of the turbulence models are evaluated by applying them to the thermal stratification experiment conducted at JNC (Japan Nuclear Corporation). The algebraic flux model is used for treating the turbulent heat flux for the two-layer model and the SST model, and there exist little differences between the two turbulence models in predicting the temporal variation of temperature. The v2-f model and the elliptic blending model better predict the steep gradient of temperature at the interface of thermal stratification, and the v2-f model and elliptic blending model predict properly the oscillation of the ensemble-averaged temperature. In general the overall performance of the elliptic blending model is better than the v2-f model in the prediction of the amplitude and frequency of the temperature oscillation.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.103-106
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• 2002

This paper presents an effective numerical method for analyzing three-dimensional unsteady conjugate heat transfer problems of a curved pipe subjected to infernally thermal stratification. In the present numerical analyses, the thermally stratified flows in the pipe are simulated using the standard $k-{\varepsilon}$turbulent model and the unsteady conjugate heat transfer is treated numerically with a simple and convenient numerical technique. The unsteady conjugate heat transfer analysis method is implemented in a finite volume thermal-hydraulic computer code based on a non-staggered grid arrangement, SIMPLEC algorithm and higher-order bounded convection scheme. Numerical calculations have been performed far the two cases of thermally stratified pipe flows where the surging directions are opposite each other i.e. In-surge and out-surge. The results show that the present numerical analysis method is effective to solve the unsteady flow and conjugate heat transfer in a curved pipe subjected to infernally thermal stratification.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.05b
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• pp.95-101
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• 1996

In this paper, the steady 2-dimensional model for a long horizontal line with different end temperatures undergoing natural convection at very high Rayleigh number is proposed to numerically investigate the heat transfer and flow characteristics. The dimensionless governing equations are solved by using SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations) algorithm which is developed using control volumes and staggered grids. The numerical results are verified by comparison with the operating PWR test data. The analysis focuses on the effects of variation of the heat transfer rates at the pipe surface, the thermal conductivities of the pipe material and the thickness of the pipe wall on the thermal stratification. The results show that the heat transfer rate at the pipe surface is the controlling parameter. A significant reduction and disappearance of thermal stratification phenomenon is observed at the Biot number of 5.0$\times$10$^{-2}$. The results also show that the increment of the thermal conductivity and thickness of the wall weakens the thermal stratification and somewhat reduces azimuthal temperature gradient in the pipe wall. Those effects are however minor, when compared with those due to the variation of the heat transfer rates at the surface of the pipe wall.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.3166-3175
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• 2022

The most numerical investigations of the thermal-hydraulic phenomena following the loss of the residual heat removal capability during the mid-loop operation of the pressurized water reactor were performed according to simplifications and are not sufficiently accurate. To perform more accurate and more reliable predictions of thermal-hydraulic accidents in a nuclear power plant using computational fluid dynamics codes, a more detailed methodology is needed. Modelling results identified that thermal stratification and natural convection are observed. Temperatures of lower monitoring points remain low, while temperatures of upper monitoring points increase over time. The water in the heated region, in the upper unheated region and the pipe region was well mixed due to natural convection, meanwhile, there is no natural convection in the lower unheated region. Water temperature in the pipe region increased after a certain time delay due to circulation of flow induced by natural convection in the heated and upper unheated regions. The modelling results correspond to the experimental data. The developed computational fluid dynamics methodology could be applied for modelling of two-component single/two-phase natural convection and thermal stratification phenomena during the mid-loop operation of the pressurized water reactor or other nuclear and non-nuclear installations at similar conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.05b
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• pp.29-35
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• 1996

For the Reactor Coolant System(RCS) flow rate measurement by the secondary calorimetric heat balance method, the coolant temperature of the hot leg is needed. Several Resistance Temperature Detectors(RTD) are installed in the hot leg to measure the temperature, but the average value of RTDs does not correctly represent the energy-averaged(bulk) temperature because of the thermal stratification phenomenon. Therefore some correction is introduced to predict the bulk temperature, but the correction inevitably contains uncertainty because the stratification is not defined well quantitatively yet. Therefore a large uncertainty for the correction has been used for the conservative estimation. But unrealistically large uncertainty causes degradation of the measurement method and yields difficulty to meet the acceptance criterion in start-up flow measurement test. In this paper, an analytical estimation is made on the correction and the related uncertainty using the measured hot leg velocity profile of System 80 reactor flow model test and the measured temperatures of YGN 3&4 and PVNGS 1&2 start-up tests. The results reveal that the magnitude of the correction uncertainty is much smaller than that used in the previous design. Therefore, the confidence on the flow rate measurement method can be improved and the difficulty in start-up flow measurement test can be lessened if the smaller correction uncertainty obtained through this estimation is applied.

• The Magazine of the Society of Air-Conditioning and Refrigerating Engineers of Korea
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.382-394
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• 1988

Dynamic characteristics of thermally-forced stratification process in a square enclosure with a linear temperature profile at the side walls have been investigated through flow visualization experiment and numerical analysis. The experiment was performed on air with the Rayleigh numbers of order $10^5$. A particle tracer method is used for the flow visualization and to obtain a sudden linear temperature profile at the side walls copper blocks which already have a linear temperature profile are come into contact with the thin copper plates of the test section. Immediately a meridional circulation is developed and heat transfer takes place from the wall to the interior region by circulation of fluid and finally a thermal stratification is achieved. In the numerical study, QUICK scheme for convective terms, SIMPLE algorithm for pressure correction, and the implicit method for the time marching are adopted for the integration of conservation equations. Comparison of flow visualization and numerical results shows that the developing flow patterns are very similar in dynamic nature even though there is a time lag due to the inevitable time delay in setting up a linear temperature profile. For high Rayleigh numbers, the oscillatory motion is likely to take place and stratified region is extended. However, initial temperature adjustment process is much slower than that for low Rayleigh numbers.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.37-46
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• 2001

This study describes the experimental study that focuses on the effects that distributor shapes and flow rate variations have an influence on the stratification in a rectangular thermal storage tank. Experiments were carried out under the conditions that the flow rates of working fluid are 20, 10 and $5\ell$/min. The storage tank is initially filled with chilled water of $1^{\circ}C$, and is extracted through the bottom at the same rate as the return warm water from load is entered through the distributor at the top of the tank. The thermo-cline forms at the top of the storage tank as the warm water enters the tank from the load through the distributor and the thermo-cline thickness increases with time. Emphasis is given to the effects of mixing at the inlet that increases the thermo-cline decay Flow rate variation and inlet distributor shapes are the important parameters in deciding the performance of a storage system. Stratification degree increases with decreasing in inlet flow rate under $10\ell$/min. Experiments shows that better thermal stratification can be obtain using the distributor to limit momentum mixing at the inlets and outlets. Also, 12% of improvement in the thermal energy usage has been achieved using the modified distributor discharging same flow rate in each lateral ports.

• Solar Energy
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.65-77
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• 1996

The operating thermal chracteristics of direct contact liquid-ice heat exchanger was experimentally investigated. In this paper, The effects of Ice Packing Factor(IPF), the inlet temperature and the flow rate of Heat Transfer Fluid(HTF) were stuided in the liquid-ice heat exchanger. Thermal stratification in liquid-ice heat exchanger was established clearly and faster at the higher inlet temperature and flow rate of HTF. At the end of melting of the lower flow rate is cleared the thermal stratification in liquid-ice heat exchanger. The temperature stratification is long with higher value of IPF of liquid-ice heat exchanger. The mean temperature of liquid-ice storage was changed rapidly with increasing flow rate and inlet temperature of HTF. The gradiant of ratio of total energy to latent energy was found higher with increasing inlet temperature and flow rate.