Turbulent transports by secondary flow vortices in a rod bundle

Experimental data on secondary flow vortices in a rod bundle with pitch-to-diameter ratio P/D=1.3 show weak vortices with the average velocity magnitude only about 0.1% of the mean bulk velocity. The question then arises, how important these weak vortices could still be as a transport mechanism in turbulent flows. The transport of axial momentum by these vortices is analysed quantitatively. While a minor importance is observed for the transport in radial direction, it is found that about half of the total transport in circumferential direction is due to the secondary flow vortex convection. Based on the analogy between the transport of momentum and heat, it is expected in nonisothermal situations that, in radial direction, the contribution can improve the heat transfer coefficient and contribute to better economy of heat transfer installations. In circumferential direction, the contribution helps to smooth out circumferential temperature differences, improves the heat removal from heated surfaces and, through a decrease of the maximum surface temperature, it contributes to passive safety of heat transfer installations. (orig.)