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Heat Transfer Enhancement of Supercritical Nitrogen Flowing Downward in a Small Vertical Tube: Evaluation of System Parameter Effects

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Abstract

In this paper, the heat transfer enhancement (HTE) of supercritical nitrogen flowing downward in a vertical small tube (diameter 2 mm) is studied using the commercial software CFX of Ansys16.1, to provide theoretical guidance on the design of high-performance heat transfer systems. An effective numerical simulation method, which employs the SSG Reynolds stress model with enhanced wall treatment, is applied to study the heat transfer of supercritical nitrogen under typical working conditions. The objective is to evaluate the effect of the main parameters taking into account the buoyancy and flow acceleration effects. Simulation results are compared with results calculated from three well-known empirical correlations and the applicability of empirical correlation is discussed in detail. It is discovered that the Watts and Chou correlation accurately fits the simulation results of supercritical nitrogen and the Dittus-Boelter and Jackson correlations can only be used for high-pressure conditions. The HTE of supercritical nitrogen is closely related to the laminar sub-layer and buffer layer of a boundary layer. The buoyancy effect on the HTE should be considered at low mass flux conditions, and thermal acceleration can be completely ignored for the cases studied. The special HTE featured by the increment in heat transfer coefficient with increasing heat flux is discovered at low pressure, and simulation results proved that this HTE is caused by the combined actions of buoyancy as well as significant variations in specific heat and viscosity.

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Abbreviations

Bo* :

buoyancy parameter

C p :

specific heat/J·kg−1·K−1

D, d :

diameter/mm

Fr :

Froude number, Fr=u2/(g×D)

Fv 1 :

variable property correction factor

G :

mass flux/kg·m−2·s−1

g :

gravitational acceleration/m·s−2

Gr q :

Grashof number based on wall heat flux

h :

local heat transfer coefficient/W·m−2·K−1

h 0 :

reference heat transfer coefficient/ W·m−2·K−1

k :

turbulent kinetic energy/m2·s−2

Kv :

acceleration parameter

Nu :

Nusselt number

P, p :

pressure/MPa

Pr :

Prandtl number

q :

heat flux/W·m−2

Re :

Reynolds number

T :

temperature/K

ui and Ui, uj and Uj, uk and Uk :

velocity components in the x, y and z direction/m·s−1

x :

distance in axial direction/m

y + :

non-dimensional wall distance

β :

thermal expansion coefficient/K−1

λ :

thermal conductivity/W·m−1·K−1

µ :

dynamic viscosity/Pa·s

ν :

kinematic viscosity/m2·s−1

ρ :

density/kg·m−3

b:

bulk

buo:

buoyancy

C:

critical point

f:

buoyancy-free and acceleration-free

pc:

pseudo-critical

w:

evaluated at wall

HTC:

heat transfer coefficient

HTE:

heat transfer enhancement

HTD:

heat transfer deterioration

PCHE:

printed circuit heat exchanger

SCWR:

supercritical water cooled reactor

SCO2 :

supercritical carbon dioxide

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Acknowledgements

The work is financially sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51876024 and No. 51976204) and Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Xiaojing Zhu, Zhihao Lyu & Qiang Li

  2. Shenyang Aeroengine Research Institute, Aero Engine Corporation of China, Shenyang, 110015, China

    Xiao Yu, Maoguo Cao & Yongxiang Ren

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  1. Xiaojing Zhu
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  2. Zhihao Lyu
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Correspondence to Xiaojing Zhu.

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Zhu, X., Lyu, Z., Yu, X. et al. Heat Transfer Enhancement of Supercritical Nitrogen Flowing Downward in a Small Vertical Tube: Evaluation of System Parameter Effects. J. Therm. Sci. 29, 1487–1503 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-020-1377-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-020-1377-0

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