A Heat Transfer Correlation for Flow Channels in a Prismatic Core VHTR

Boyce W. Travis; Mohamed S. El-Genk

doi:dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13414

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A Heat Transfer Correlation for Flow Channels in a Prismatic Core VHTR

Boyce W. Travis, Mohamed S. El-Genk

Fusion Science and Technology / Volume 61 / Number 1T / January 2012 / Pages 161-166

Fission / Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems / dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13414

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This paper presents the results of a coupled 3-D thermal-hydraulics and CFD analysis of helium flow in a coolant channel of a prismatic core, Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR). Results are used to develop a turbulent convection heat transfer correlation that accounts for induced mixing in the entrance region as:

h = [0.10(k/D)Re_b^0.653Pr_b^0.4][1 + 0.57e^-(0.20z/D)]

The entrance effect (second term) increases the local turbulent heat transfer coefficient, but diminishes for z/D > 25. This correlation is within ± 2% of the numerical results.