Title: Numerical simulation of mixing vanes on flow and heat transfer characteristics in 5 × 5 rod bundle

Authors: Li-Xin Yang; Meng-Jun Zhou

Addresses: Beijing Key Laboratory of Flow and Heat Transfer of Phase Changing in Micro and Small Scale, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China ' Beijing Key Laboratory of Flow and Heat Transfer of Phase Changing in Micro and Small Scale, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China

Abstract: Single-phase heat transfer characteristics in a pressurised water reactor (PWR) fuel assembly are important. Many investigations have studied flow features in a 5 × 5 rod bundle with a specific mixing vane spacer grid. Three shapes and two arrangements of mixing vane are analysed to compare flow characteristics and heat transfer. No one-to-one correspondence exists between the block ratio and total pressure loss and the heat transfer for different mixing vanes shapes. The cross flow significantly affects the wall heat transfer coefficient of the rods. Cross flow in the channels for the two arrangements in the flow field differs greatly, and the cross flow is more obvious when the mixing vane adopts the second arrangement. Mixing-vane shape mainly affects the magnitude of the cross flow velocity - not the structure - and the Shape2 mixing vane induces maximum cross flow. These influences on cross flow result in a higher heat transfer with the second arrangement or with the second shape than with the first arrangement or the first- and third-shape mixing vanes.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics; CFD; mixing vane; flow; heat transfer.

DOI: 10.1504/PCFD.2017.088791

Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal, 2017 Vol.17 No.6, pp.376 - 384

Received: 03 Nov 2016
Accepted: 13 Mar 2017
Published online: 19 Dec 2017 *

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