A transient thermal hydraulic simulation of a steam generator feedwater header

The transient thermal hydraulic behavior of a steam generator feedwater header is studied numerically using a commercial computational fluid dynamics package. The purpose of the simulation is to verify assumptions and methodologies used during the engineering design process. The domain is discretized using a structured, body-fitted computational mesh on which the time-accurate, fully three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved. Calculations of the feedwater header flow for simulation times in excess of 200 seconds are performed. Results in the form of plots and graphs of flow field velocity and temperature distribution in space and time are presented. The effect of the feedwater header on upstream components, as well as, the effect of the initial temperature field on the transient solution are studied. The results from these simulations have proven the conservative assumptions used during the engineering design process to be acceptable