On the occurrence of burnout downstream of a flow obstacle in boiling two-phase upward flow within a vertical annular channel

If a flow obstacle, such as a spacer is placed in a boiling two-phase flow within a channel, the temperature on the surface of the heating tube is severely affected by the existence of the spacer. Under certain conditions, a spacer has a cooling effect, and under other conditions, the spacer causes dryout of the cooling water film on the heating surface. The burnout mechanism, which always occurs upstream of a spacer, however, remains unclear.In a previous paper [Fukano, T., Mori, S., Akamatsu, S., Baba, A., 2002. Relation between temperature fluctuation of a heating surface and generation of drypatch caused by a cylindrical spacer in a vertical boiling two-phase upward flow in a narrow annular channel. Nucl. Eng. Des. 217, 81–90], we reported that the disturbance wave has a significant effect on dryout and burnout occurrence and that a spacer greatly affects the behavior of the liquid film downstream of the spacer.In the present study, we examined in detail the influences of a spacer on the heat transfer and film thickness characteristics downstream of the spacer by considering the result in steam–water and air–water systems. The main results are summarized as follows:

(1) The spacer averages the liquid film in the disturbance wave flow. As a result, dryout tends not to occur downstream of the spacer. This means that large temperature increases do not occur there. However, traces of disturbance waves remain, even if the disturbance waves are averaged by the spacer.

(2) There is a high probability that the location at which burnout occurs is upstream of the downstream spacer, irrespective of the spacer spacing.

(3) The newly proposed burnout occurrence model can explain the phenomena that burnout does occur upstream of the downstream spacer, even if the liquid film thickness t_F m is approximately the same before and behind the spacer.

Relation between the occurrence of Burnout and differential pressure fluctuation characteristics caused by the disturbance waves passing by a flow obstacle in a vertical boiling two-phase upward flow in a narrow annular channel

If a flow obstacle such as a spacer is placed in a boiling two-phase flow within a channel, the temperature on the surface of the heating tube is severely affected by the existence of the spacer. Under certain conditions the spacer has a cooling effect, and under other conditions the spacer causes dryout of the cooling water film on the heating surface, resulting in burnout of the tube. The burnout mechanism near the spacer, however, remains unclear.In a previous paper (Fukano, T., Mori, S., Akamatsu, S., Baba, A., 2002. Relation between temperature fluctuation of a heating surface and generation of drypatch caused by a cylindrical spacer in a vertical boiling two-phase upward flow in a narrow annular channel. Nucl. Eng. Des. 217, 81–90), we reported that the disturbance wave has a significant effect on dryout occurrence. Therefore, in the present paper, the relation between dryout, burnout occurrence, and interval between two successive disturbance waves obtained from the differential pressure fluctuation caused by the disturbance waves passing by a spacer, is further discussed in detail.     

Fluctuation characteristics of heating surface temperature near an obstacle in transient boiling two-phase flow in a vertical annular channel

When a flow obstruction such as a spacer is set in a boiling two-phase flow within an annular channel, the inner tube of which is used as a heater, the temperature on the surface of the heater tube is severely affected by the existence of the spacer. In some cases the spacer has a cooling effect, and in other cases it causes the dryout of the cooling water film on the heating surface resulting in the burnout of the tube. In the present paper we will discuss temperature fluctuations in relation to the change in the flow configuration near the cylindrical spacer in transient boiling two-phase flow caused by the stepwise change of the operation parameters such as the heat flux, the mass flow rate, and the inlet quality of the test section. As a result it is concluded that: Even if the flow pattern changes rapidly by a stepwise change of an operation parameter, the transition of flow proceeds safely provided that the change causes the increase of vapor velocity, i.e. the increase of the shear force which is acting on liquid film flow. On the other hand if the change causes the decrease of the vapor velocity, it must be noticed that the transient burnout possibly occurs even when the operating condition after the change is less than the steady burnout condition.     

Droplet entrainment correlation in vertical upward co-current annular two-phase flow

Upward annular two-phase flow in a vertical tube is characterized by the presence of liquid film on the tube wall and entrained droplet laden gas phase flowing through the tube core. Entrainment fraction in annular flow is defined as a fraction of the total liquid flow flowing in the form of droplets through the central gas core. Its prediction is important for the estimation of pressure drop and dryout in annular flow. In the following study, measurements of entrainment fraction have been obtained in vertical upward co-current air–water annular flow covering wide ranges of pressure and flow conditions. Comparison of the experimental data with the existing entrainment fraction prediction correlations revealed their inadequacies in simulating the trends observed under high flow and high pressure conditions. Furthermore, several correlations available in the literature are implicit and require iterative calculations.Analysis of the experimental data showed that the non-dimensional numbers, Weber number (We = ρ_gj_g²D/σ(Δρ/ρ_g)^1/4) and liquid phase Reynolds number (Re_f = ρ_fj_fD/μ_f), successfully collapse the data. In view of this, simple, explicit correlation was developed based on these non-dimensional numbers for the prediction of entrainment fraction. The new correlation successfully predicted the trends under the high flow and high pressure conditions observed in the current experimental data and the data available in open literature. However, in order to use the proposed correlation it is necessary to predict the maximum possible entrainment fraction (or limiting entrainment fraction). In the current analysis, an experimental data based correlation was used for this purpose. However, a better model or correlation is necessary for the maximum possible entrainment fraction. A theoretical discussion on the mechanism and modeling of the maximum possible entrainment fraction condition is presented.     

A self-standing two-fluid CFD model for vertical upward two-phase annular flow

In this paper, a new two-fluid CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model is proposed to simulate the vertical upward two-phase annular flow. This model solves the basic mass and momentum equations for the gas core region flow and the liquid film flow, where the basic governing equations are accounted for by the commercial CFD package Fluent6.3.26^®. The liquid droplet flow and the interfacial inter-phase effects are accounted for by the programmable interface of Fluent, UDF (user defined function). Unlike previous models, the present model includes the effect of liquid roll waves directly determined from the CFD code. It is able to provide more detailed and, the most important, self-standing information for both the gas core flow and the film flow as well as the inner tube wall situations.     

Relation between temperature fluctuation of a heating surface and generation of drypatch caused by a cylindrical spacer in a vertical boiling two-phase upward flow in a narrow annular channel

When a flow obstruction such as a cylindrical spacer is set in a boiling two-phase flow within an annular channel, the inner tube of which is used as a heater, the temperature on the surface of the heater tube is severely affected by the existence of the cylindrical spacer. In some case the cylindrical spacer has a cooling effect, and in the other case it causes the dryout of the cooling water film on the heating surface resulting in the burnout of the tube. In the present paper we will discuss the temperature distributions near the cylindrical spacer and its fluctuation characteristics in relation to the change of the flow configuration near the cylindrical spacer.     

垂直上升矩形流道内气液两相流流型图的数值模拟

两相流流型在分析换热、流动不稳定性以及临界热流密度方面具有基础性作用.本文基于VOF(Volume of Fluid)多相流模型,对垂直上升矩形流道内气液两相流动进行数值模拟,表观气速0.1～110 m/s,表观液速0.1～3.2 m/s.得到了流道内气液两相流的主要流型:泡状流、弹状流、搅混流和环状流,分析了流道内截面含气率分布与流型的对应关系,以及截面含气率与气液两相流容积含气率的关系;分析了各种流型下的压降分布特性,并绘制了基于气液表观动能通量的不同流量下气液两相流的流型图,直观的表示出各种流型的分布区域及各流型间的流型转换边界,与已发表文献的实验结果对比符合较好.     

Properties of disturbance waves in vertical annular two-phase flow

Disturbance waves play an important role in interfacial transfer of mass, momentum and energy in annular two-phase flow. In spite of their importance, majority of the experimental data available in literature on disturbance wave properties such as velocity, frequency, wavelength and amplitude are limited to near atmospheric conditions (Azzopardi, B.J., 1997. Drops in annular two-phase flow. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 23, 1-53). In view of this, air-water annular flow experiments have been conducted at three pressure conditions (1.2, 4.0 and 5.8 bar) in a tubular test section having an inside diameter 9.4 mm. At each pressure condition liquid and gas phase flow rates are varied over a large range so that the effects of density ratio, liquid flow rate and gas flow rate on disturbance wave properties can be studied systematically. A liquid film thickness is measured by two flush mounted ring shaped conductance probes located 38.1 mm apart. Disturbance wave velocity, frequency, amplitude and wavelength are estimated from the liquid film thickness measurements by following the statistical analysis methods. Parametric trends in variations of disturbance wave properties are analyzed using the non-dimensional numbers; liquid phase Reynolds number (Re_f), gas phase Reynolds number (Re_g), Weber number (We) and Strouhal number (Sr). Finally, the existing correlations available for the prediction of disturbance wave velocity and frequency are analyzed and a new, improved correlation is proposed for the prediction of disturbance wave frequency. The new correlation satisfactorily predicted the current data and the data available in literature.     

Characteristics and behavior of the interfacial wave on the liquid film in a vertically upward air-water two-phase annular flow

The behavior of individual interfacial waves on liquid film in vertically upward air-water annular flows has been visualized, observed and analyzed by a pigment luminance method(PLM) which was calibrated with a fiber-optic liquid film sensor. By means of this technique, we distinguished three different types of interfacial waves, i.e. the ripple wave, the ring wave and the disturbance wave. Furthermore we measured the characteristics of these three different kinds of waves, and in particular those of the disturbance wave: i.e. its propagation velocity, its frequency in passing and the distance between two adjacent waves, and then obtained the dependency of these characteristics on the air and water volumetric fluxes j_g and j_l. These results agreed well with the results obtained by other investigators, using an electric needle contact method. A probable mechanism of the occurrence of the ring and the disturbance waves was posited.     

Void fraction and flow regime in adiabatic upward two-phase flow in large diameter vertical pipes

In pipes with very large diameters, slug bubbles cannot exist. For this reason, the characteristics of two-phase flow in large pipes are much different than those in small pipes. Knowledge of these characteristics is essential for the prediction of the flow in new nuclear reactor designs which include a large chimney to promote natural circulation. Two of the key parameters in the prediction of the flow are the void fraction and flow regime. Void fraction measurements were made in a vertical tube with diameter of 0.15 m and length of 4.4 m. Superficial gas and liquid velocities ranged from 0.1 to 5.1 m/s and from 0.01 to 2.0 m/s, respectively. The measured void fractions ranged from 0.02 to 0.83. Electrical impedance void meters at four axial locations were used to measure the void fraction. This data was verified through comparison with previous data sets and models. The temporal variation in the void fraction signal was used to characterize the flow regime through use of the Cumulative Probability Density Function (CPDF). The CPDF of the signal was used with a Kohonen Self-Organized Map (SOM) to classify the flow regimes at each measurement port. The three flow regimes used were termed bubbly, cap-bubbly, and churn flow. The resulting flow regime maps matched well with the maps developed previously through other methods. Further, the flow regime maps matched well with the criteria which were proposed based on Mishima and Ishii's (1984) criteria.     

Flow regime transition criteria for upward two-phase flow in vertical narrow rectangular channels

In relation to the cooling system of high performance microelectronics, a high power research reactor with plate type fuels and plasma facing components of a fusion reactor, study of two-phase flow in a narrow rectangular channel has been paid considerable attention, recently. For the two-fluid model, direct geometrical parameters such as the void fraction should be used in flow-regime criteria. From this point of view, flow-regime transition criteria for vertical upward flows in narrow rectangular channels have been developed considering the mechanisms of flow-regime transitions. The basic concept of the present modeling followed the Mishima and Ishii model for vertical upward two-phase flows in round tubes. Newly developed criteria have been compared with the existing experimental data for air–water flows in narrow rectangular channels with the gaps of 0.3–17 mm. The present criteria showed satisfactory agreements with those data. Further comparisons with data for steam–water in a rectangular channel at relatively high system pressures have been made. The results confirmed that the present flow-regime transition criteria could be applied over wide ranges of parameters as well as to boiling flow.     

Disturbance wave frequencies, velocities and spacing in vertical annular two-phase flow

A systematic study of disturbance wave properties in annular flow is reported. Frequencies and velocities were deduced from correlational analysis of film thickness records. The data is shown to agree with the more reliable earlier studies, though these were not so extensive. The spacing between waves has also been deduced. The effects of flow rates on this parameter are explained and its relationship to wave height is examined.     

Mixed convection heat transfer to carbon dioxide flowing upward and downward in a vertical tube and an annular channel

This paper addresses three main subjects in supercritical heat transfer: (1) difference in thermal characteristics between upward and downward flows; (2) effect of simulating flow channel shape; (3) evaluation of the existing supercritical heat transfer correlations. To achieve the objectives, a series of experiments was carried out with CO₂ flowing upward and downward in a circular tube with an inner diameter of 4.57 mm and an annular channel created between a tube with an inner diameter of 10 mm and a heater rod with an outer diameter of 8 mm. The working fluid, CO₂, has been regarded as an appropriate modeling fluid for water, primarily because of their similarity in property variations against reduced temperatures. The mass flux ranged from 400 to 1200 kg/m² s. The heat flux was varied between 30 and 140 kW/m² so that the pseudo-critical point was located in the middle of the heated section at a given mass flux. The measurements were made at a pressure of 8.12 MPa, which corresponds to 110% of the critical pressure of CO₂. The difference between the upward and downward flows was observed clearly. The heat transfer deterioration was observed in the downward flow through an annular subchannel over the region beyond the critical point. Several well-known correlations were evaluated against the experimental data, and new correlations were suggested for both a tube and an annular channel.     

Rate of droplet deposition in steam-water annular flow and effect of a flow obstacle

Deposition rate of droplets in steam-water annular two-phase flow was measured using a 5 mm diameter vertical round tube as a test section. In the experimental conditions tested in this work, the droplet mass transfer coefficient decreased with an increase in the droplet concentration in the gas core flow and with an increase in the length of a deposition section. The dependence on these two parameters agreed fairly well with predictions by available correlations. Placing a small cylindrical tube concentrically in the test section round tube, the effect of a flow obstacle on the deposition rate of droplets was also experimentally investigated. It was found that the obstacle effect was significant and the deposition rate of droplets increased approximately three times in average. The obstacle effect measured in this work was compared with an empirical correlation and a simple mechanistic model that were developed using experimental results of air-water annular flows. Fairly good agreement was achieved in both cases, which would indicate that the mechanism of deposition enhancement induced by the flow obstacle is similar between air-water and steam-water flows.     

Experimental studies on rewetting of hot vertical annular channel

Studies on the rewetting behaviour of hot vertical annular channels are of interest in the context of emergency core cooling in nuclear reactors following LOCA. Experimental studies were carried out to study the rewetting behaviour of a hot vertical annular channel, with hot inner tube, for bottom flooding and top flow rewetting conditions. The length of the inner tube of the test section was 3030 mm for bottom flooding rewetting experiments and 2630 mm for top flow rewetting experiments. The tube was made of stainless steel. Experiments were conducted for water flow rates in the annulus upto 7 lpm (11.7×10⁻⁵ m³ s⁻¹). The initial surface temperature of the inner tube was varied from 200 to 500°C. The experimental studies show that for a given initial surface temperature of the tube, the rewetting velocity increases with an increase in flow rate of water and it decreases with an increase in the initial surface temperature for a given water flow rate. For a given water flow rate and initial surface temperature, the rewetting velocity is higher in the case of rewetting under bottom flooding conditions as compared to that in the case of rewetting under top flow conditions. These conclusions agree with the conclusions reported in the earlier literature. Using the experimental data of the present work, correlations for bottom flooding and top flow rewetting velocities are developed.     

Investigation of the two-phase flow in a boiling water reactor using neutron-noise technique

In this paper, the fluctuations of the neutron flux (“neutron noise”) of the Mühleberg BWR are investigated. Above 2 Hz, the noise measured by the in-core neutron detectors is driven exclusively by local fluctuations of the void fraction. Characteristic changes of the neutron-noise signature along the axis can be attributed to changes of flow pattern. By measuring the phase lag between pairs of axially placed neutron detectors, the transit time of the steam between the detectors can be evaluated. The measured transit times are applied to the study of two-phase flow in the core. The neutron-noise method has the advantage of providing in-core information under operational conditions.     

A reinterpretation of measurements in developing annular two-phase flow

Measurements of developing films in adiabatic high pressure steam-water flow in annular geometry have been reanalyzed and compared to a linearized film-flow model. The development rate of the outer film could be determined with good accuracy in four cases. In one case it was also possible to conclude that the inner film develops faster than the outer one. When compared to the linearized model, these observations show that the deposition rate has to be almost independent of the drop concentration at the investigated conditions. Furthermore, any significant deposition by direct impaction of drops can be excluded as it would couple the development of the two films. These conclusions are quite general and do not depend on the use of any particular correlation for the deposition or entrainment rates. Finally, a rough estimate of the deposition rate was possible, confirming that deposition rates are considerably lower at high pressure steam-water flows than in air-water flows.     

Experimental research on dryout point of flow boiling in narrow annular channels

1 Introduction There are basically two classes of critical heat flux (CHF) situations: departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) and dryout (DO) [1]. DO is also sometimes known as burnout or departure from forced convective boiling in vapor-continuous flow. From the point of view of engineering, the CHF caused by the DO mechanism is of particular importance since boiling annular flow is one of the most common flow patterns in gas–liquid two-phase flow and occurs in a wide range of vapor qua…     

Experimental investigation of local two-phase flow parameters of a subcooled boiling flow in an annulus

As a series of subcooling boiling flow tests, local two-phase flow parameters were obtained at SUBO (subcooled boiling) test facility under steam–water flow conditions. The test section is a vertical annulus of which the axial length is 4.165 m with a heater rod at the center of a channel. The inner and outer diameters of the test section and the heater rod are 35.5 mm and 9.98 mm, respectively. The test was performed by a two-stage approach. Stage-I for the measurement of local bubble parameters has been already done (Yun et al., 2009). The present work focused on the stage-II test for the measurement of local liquid parameters such as a local liquid velocity and a liquid temperature for a given flow condition of stage-I. A total of six test cases were chosen by following the test matrix of stage-I. The flow conditions are in the range of the heat flux of 370–563 kW/m², mass flux of 1110–2100 kg/(m² s) and inlet subcooling of 19–31 °C at pressure condition of 0.15–0.2 MPa. From the test, local liquid parameters were measured at 6 elevations along the test section and 11 radial locations of each elevation in addition to the previously obtained local void fraction, interfacial area concentration, Sauter mean diameter and bubble velocity. The present subcooled boiling (SUBO) data completes a data set for use as a benchmark, validation and model development of the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes or existing safety analysis codes.     

Flooding correlation based on the concept of hyperbolicity breaking in a vertical annular flow

Flooding is classified into exit flooding and entrance flooding depending on the positions at which it is initiated. It is postulated that flooding may result from the instabilities of roll waves and the stationary wave generated at the entrance and the exit respectively. Based on the two-fluid model, the neutral stability condition for wave instabilities is derived by studying hyperbolicity breaking near a singular point in two-phase flow. It turns out to be a type of onset condition of Helmholtz instability; the critical relative velocity depends on the void fraction derivative of the interfacial pressure force as well as on the void fraction and density ratio. In order to obtain information on the interfacial pressure force, a Korteweg-de Vries solitary wave is studied with the assumption that its wavenumber is the same as that of the fastest-growing sine wave. Predictions by the correlations for entrance flooding and exit flooding are in good agreement with experimental data. Also, the present model is able to consider the effect of the test section length on flooding.