Experimental and numerical investigation of natural circulation phenomena in a rectangular natural circulation loop

Natural circulation is the key phenomena in the passive cooling systems. Thus, it is important to study the flow characteristics and heat transfer behavior in natural circulation. The natural circulation phenomena in steady state and transient form is investigated using 3D CFD simulations, carried out using OpenFoam 2.2.0. The first part consists of a steady-state study, in which the results are validated by data available from a set of experiments conducted over a range of heater power (130W-360W). The second part consists of a transient study of flow development and establishment of natural circulation within this loop. (author)