Numerical Analysis of General Trends in Single-Phase Natural Circulation in a 2D-Annular Loop

The aim of this paper is to address fluid flow behavior of natural circulation in a 2D-annular loop filled with water. A two-dimensional, numerical analysis of natural convection in a 2D-annular closed-loop thermosyphon has been performed for various radius ratios from 1.2 to 2.0, the loop being hea...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gilles Desrayaud, Alberto Fichera
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2008-01-01
Series:Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2008/895695
Description
Summary:The aim of this paper is to address fluid flow behavior of natural circulation in a 2D-annular loop filled with water. A two-dimensional, numerical analysis of natural convection in a 2D-annular closed-loop thermosyphon has been performed for various radius ratios from 1.2 to 2.0, the loop being heated at a constant flux over the bottom half and cooled at a constant temperature over the top half. It has been numerically shown that natural convection in a 2D-annular closed-loop thermosyphon is capable of showing pseudoconductive regime at pitchfork bifurcation, stationary convective regimes without and with recirculating regions occurring at the entrance of the exchangers, oscillatory convection at Hopf bifurcation and Lorenz-like chaotic flow. The complexity of the dynamic properties experimentally encountered in toroidal or rectangular loops is thus also found here.
ISSN:1687-6075
1687-6083