Numerical investigation of steady state characteristics and stability of supercritical water natural circulation loop of a heater and cooler arrangements
Santosh Kumar Rai, Pardeep Kumar, Vinay Panwar
Abstract
The present paper studies the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of the rectangular supercritical natural circulation loop (SCNCL) using numerical model of one dimensional. Then the results of this model is confirmed with experimental and benchmark results. Variations with several geometric parameters like loop diameter, riser length, and heater length and operating conditions like heater inlet enthalpy, pressure, friction factor, and inlet and exit loss coefficient on steady-state performance are investigated for various orientations like HHHC, HHVC, VHVC and VHHC of the heater and cooler. The chances of existing static instability (Ledinegg excursion) has been investigated, which reveals that it can arise only in a low inlet enthalpy condition, far from the suggested various orientations of heater and cooler.