Results of studying of turbulent heat transfer deterioration and their application for development of engineering methods of calculation of heat transfer and pressure drop in supercritical-pressure coolant flow

Full text of publication follows: Using of the supercritical-pressure (SCP) water as a working medium is an apparent way to increase specific capacity and economic efficiency of nuclear power installations. Nevertheless, to provide safe operation of SCP nuclear power units, it is necessary to considerably improve reliability and accuracy of calculations of pressure drop and heat transfer in the SCP working media and coolants flows and the methods of forecasting such a dangerous phenomenon as deterioration of the turbulent heat transfer at a certain level of heat flux density. A value of the latter changes within a very large range depending on the specific conditions of the process under consideration. In the paper, the main results of the experimental study of heat transfer, pressure drop, and velocity and temperature fields in both upward and downward flows of the SCP CO2 in tubes are considered. This study was conducted at OIVT RAN under conditions of heat input and embraced the regimes of normal and deteriorated heat transfer as well. On the basis of this data, the concept regarding to physical mechanism of incipience of the regimes of deteriorated heat transfer was developed. Classification of different modes of heat transfer deterioration in vertical channels is proposed. A degree of a danger of certain regimes is assessed. It is shown that the above phenomenon is caused by transformation of the structure of nonisothermal flow of SCP fluid due to changes in proportions between the forces acting upon a flow, specifically, because of an increase in the inertia forces due to thermal acceleration of a flow and/or in Archimedes' (buoyancy) forces up to the level comparable or higher than that of friction forces. The efficiency of the most thorough correlations for calculating normal and deteriorated heat transfer in flows of SCP water and CO2 is analyzed. Reliability of existed recommendations to determine boundaries of normal heat transfer regimes is considered. Generalized correlations for heat transfer of SCP water and CO2 in vertical tubes under forced and mixed convection, which have been developed at OIVT RAN on the basis of numerous experimental data of different authors, are presented. Special emphasis is placed on the specifics of heat transfer and pressure drop in SCP coolant flows in nuclear reactors that are poorly studied at present. (authors)