Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Natural circulation loop'

An integrated model that estimates loop flow rate, heat removal, and stability parameters for the General Electric Simplified Boiling Water Reactor SBWR was developed. The three parameters above used to be calculated individually each by a separate code. The initial approach in loop thermal hydraulic modelling was the steady state solution of the SBWR loop mass, energy, and momentum equations. The power-to-flow map obtained proved to be quite comparable with the Natural Circulation in Boiling Water Reactor (NATBWR) code developed by EPRI, in addition to that of General Electric. At low power levels buoyancy forces are the controlling factor in determining the loop flow rate, while at high power levels two-phase friction losses become the dominating one. Evaluation criteria necessary for comparing different loop geometries performance have been the "minimum critical heat flux ratio (MCHFR)" and the "decay ratio." The predicted flow, from the DFM, at different power levels was used later in a parametric study to answer an important question of which combination of core and riser heights are to be selected that meets both the stability and critical power ratio limits. By modelling bubble time delay through riser in the loop momentum equation, a loop damping coefficient as a measure of loop stability, with higher damping meaning a more stable loop was calculated. Results indicated that during normal operation the SBWR loop is pretty damped. Finally, a detailed code that consists mainly of a fuel pin model, reactor point kinetics for the time dependent reactor normalized power with one group of delayed neutrons, and coolant channel mass, energy, and momentum equations is considered. Reactivity feedbacks from voids and fuel temperature, (Doppler effect), were considered. The loop momentum equation was modified to account for bubble time delay in the riser. After a small perturbation in reactivity, fuel temperature, core average void, and loop flow rate were shown to reach equilibrium values after a period of time equivalent to the transit time of the bubble through the riser. Results from this code matched that of the SBWR safety analysis report.

The removal of heat from the containment building is an important consideration in the design of a nuclear power plant. In this investigation a simple rectangular natural circulation loop was simulated to determine whether it could possibly be used to remove usable quantities of heat from a containment building. The loop had a vertical pipe on the inside and outside of the containment building. These pipes acted as heat exchangers. Single phase and two phase cases were simulated by imposing a temperature on the respective vertical leg pipe walls and determining the heat absorption from the containment building. The heat was conveyed from the inside of the building to the outside via the natural circulation phenomenon. A literature study was done to cover topics relevant to this investigation. A theoretical model using conservation equations and control volumes was derived. This model was based largely on knowledge gleaned from the literature study. The theoretical model was a simple homogenous model, which was sufficiently detailed for a conceptual investigation. The theoretical model was then manipulated into a form suitable for use in a computer simulation program. Simplifications were made to the simulation model and underlying theory due to the nature of the investigation. The simulation model was validated against published experimental results. During the simulation phase a number of cases were investigated. These cases were divided into base cases and parametric studies. During the base case simulations the change of key fluid variables along the loop was examined. During the parametric studies the hot and cold leg inside wall temperatures, loop geometry and pipe diameter were varied. The effect of these parameters on the heat absorption from the containment was determined. The simulations showed that with the current assumptions about 75 to 120 of the natural circulation loops are needed depending on their geometry and containment conditions. The heat removal rates that were calculated varied from 50 kW to 600 kW for a single loop. As explained in the final chapter, there are many factors that influence the results obtained. The natural circulation concept was deemed to be able to remove usable quantities of heat from the containment building.
Thesis (M.Ing. (Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The Liquid-Salt-Cooled Very High-Temperature Reactor (LS-VHTR) was modeled using the neutronics analysis code SCALE6.0 and the thermal-hydraulics and kinetics modeling code RELAP5-3D with objective to devise, analyze, and evaluate the feasibility and stability of a start-up procedure for this reactor using natural circulation of the coolant and under the Loss Of Offsite Power (LOOP) conditions. This Generation IV reactor design has been studied by research facilities worldwide for almost a decade. While neutronics and thermal-hydraulics analyses have been previously performed to show the performance of the reactor during normal operation and for shutdown scenarios, no study has heretofore been published to examine the active or passive start-up of the reactor. The fuel temperature (Doppler) and coolant density coefficient of reactivity of the LS-VHTR were examined using the CSAS6 module of the SCALE6.0 code. Negative Doppler and coolant density feedback coefficients were calculated. Two initial RELAP5 simulations were run to obtain the steady-state conditions of the model and to predict the changes of the thermal-hydraulic parameters during the shutdown of the reactor. Next, a series of step reactivity additions to the core were simulated to determine how much reactivity can be inserted without jeopardizing safety and the stability of the core. Finally, a start-up procedure was developed, and the restart of the reactor with natural convection of the coolant was simulated. The results of the simulations demonstrated the potential of a passive start-up of the LS-VHTR.

In many energy systems fluids play a fundamental role, and computational simulations are a valuable tool to study their complex dynamics. The Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is a relatively new numerical method for computational fluid dynamics, but its applications can be extended to physical phenomena beyond fluid flows. This thesis presents applications of the LBM to thermal fluid dynamics and energy systems. Specific applications considered are: application to nuclear reactor engineering problems; thermal fluid dynamic behavior of a Natural Circulation Loop; nanoparticles gravitational sedimentation; acoustical problems. The main original contributions derived from this work are: first, the systematic description of the current status of LBM applications to nuclear reactors problems, including test cases and benchmark simulations; second, the development and validation of a LBM model for a single-phase natural circulation loop; third, the development and validation of a LBM model for gravitational sedimentation of nanoparticles, and fourth, the systematic description of the current status of LBM applications to acoustics, including simulations of test cases. The development of this thesis was not limited to simulations; experimental studies in parallel connected natural circulation loops of small inner diameter were conducted, showing the wide applicability of the one-dimensional theoretical models used to validate the LBM results. Additional contributions derived from this work: 1. the applicability of the method to study neutron transport and nuclear waste disposal using porous materials was shown. 2. changes in the thermophysical performance of the natural circulation loop when the loop reached a non-laminar (transition) regime were found at a Reynolds number lower than the typical range. 3. variable diffusion and sedimentation parameters were effective to model the experimental sedimentation curves. In conclusion, this work shows that the LBM is a versatile and powerful computational tool that can be used beyond the common Computational Fluid Dynamics applications.
In many energy systems fluids play a fundamental role, and computational simulations are a valuable tool to study their complex dynamics. The Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is a relatively new numerical method for computational fluid dynamics, but its applications can be extended to physical phenomena beyond fluid flows. This thesis presents applications of the LBM to thermal fluid dynamics and energy systems. Specific applications considered are: application to nuclear reactor engineering problems; thermal fluid dynamic behavior of a Natural Circulation Loop; nanoparticles gravitational sedimentation; acoustical problems. The main original contributions derived from this work are: first, the systematic description of the current status of LBM applications to nuclear reactors problems, including test cases and benchmark simulations; second, the development and validation of a LBM model for a single-phase natural circulation loop; third, the development and validation of a LBM model for gravitational sedimentation of nanoparticles, and fourth, the systematic description of the current status of LBM applications to acoustics, including simulations of test cases. The development of this thesis was not limited to simulations; experimental studies in parallel connected natural circulation loops of small inner diameter were conducted, showing the wide applicability of the one-dimensional theoretical models used to validate the LBM results. Additional contributions derived from this work: 1. the applicability of the method to study neutron transport and nuclear waste disposal using porous materials was shown. 2. changes in the thermophysical performance of the natural circulation loop when the loop reached a non-laminar (transition) regime were found at a Reynolds number lower than the typical range. 3. variable diffusion and sedimentation parameters were effective to model the experimental sedimentation curves. In conclusion, this work shows that the LBM is a versatile and powerful computational tool that can be used beyond the common Computational Fluid Dynamics applications.

Thesis (MScIng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus of this project was the application of a passive device in the form of a loop thermosyphon as a reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS) for a Pebble Bed Modular Reactor. An extensive literature review showed that loop thermosyphons have been widely researched, both theoretically and experimentally. In the review attention has specifically been given to matters such as safety, instability, control and mathematical modelling. One of the objectives of the project was to build one of the axially symmetric sections of Dobson’s (2006) proposed full scale RCCS using a scaled down version consisting of a single loop heated by a section of the reactor pressure vessel and cooled by a tank of water. The second objective was to derive a theoretical model that could be used in a computer code to simulate the experiment. The theory and experiment would then be compared in order to verify the code. The mathematical model created used the following three major assumptions: quasistatic flow, incompressible liquid and vapour and one dimensionality. The conservation equations in the form of a set of difference equations with the appropriate closure equations were then solved explicitly. It was found that the theoretical results were heavily influenced by the surface optical properties as well as the heat transfer coefficients. The emissivity influenced the transition point from single to two-phase flow as well as the condenser outlet temperature. The single phase heat transfer coefficients influenced the condenser outlet temperature significantly while it was found that for two phase flow the combination of the available boiling and condensation heat transfer coefficients had only minor effects on the end results. A stainless steel and aluminium thermosyphon loop was built using water as the working fluid. A stainless steel heater plate provided the heat input while a 200 L water tank was the heat sink. Temperature and flow rate measurements were recorded as a function of time with various heating/cooling transients from start-up to steady state for three operating modes. The three operating modes were single phase, two-phase and heat pipe mode. It was found that the theoretical temperatures correspond reasonably well with the experimental temperatures. The time predicted by the theoretical model to reach the operating temperature was however somewhat longer than for the experimental. This is to be expected when considering that there is some uncertainty pertaining to the heat transfer coefficients as well as surface emissive properties. The correspondence of the theoretical and experimental fin temperatures was poor due to significant thermal stratification of the air separating the heater plate and fins. Several shortcomings in the theoretical model as well as the experimental setup were identified and discussed. The conclusion was reached that this exploratory study showed that the loop thermosyphon is a viable option for the RCCS and that the mathematical model is a viable theoretical simulation tool. Several recommendations were made for further study to address and overcome the shortcomings identified in the theoretical and experimental models in order to prove this conclusion. Amongst these is the determination of better material surface properties and heat transfer coefficients and improved mass flow rate measurement. Investigating scaling issues, natural convection outside the loop and updating of the computer program is also recommended.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die fokus van hierdie projek was die toepassing van passiewe apparatuur, in die vorm van ‘n geslote lus termoheuwel, as ‘n reaktor kamer verkoellings stelsel vir die korrel bed modulêre reaktor. Die literatuur studie wys dat hierdie tegnologie reeds breedvoerig ondersoek is teoreties sowel as eksperimenteel. In die literatuur oorsig word aandag spesifiek gegee aan veiligheid, onstabiliteit, beheer en modelleering. Een van die doelwitte van die projek was om ‘n klein skaalse model te bou van een van die aksiaal simmetriese seksies van Dobson (2006) se voorgestelde volskaalse reaktor kamer verkoellings stelsel. Die model bestaan uit n enkele lus verhit deur ‘n seksie van die reaktor drukvat en verkoel deur ‘n tenk vol water. Die tweede doelwit was die afleiding van ‘n teoretiese model wat in ‘n rekenaar program gebruik kan word om die eksperiment te simuleer. Die teoretiese en eksperimentele data kan dan vergelyk word om die geldigheid van die program te toets. Die volgende aanames is gemaak tydens die afleiding van die wiskundige model: kwasi-statiese vloei, onsamedrukbare vloeistof en gas en een dimensionalitiet. Die behouds wette is in die vorm van ‘n stel differensie vergelykings met die toepasbare sluitings vergelykings eksplisiet opgelos. Dit is bevind dat die teoretiese resultate swaar beinvloed is deur die materiaal oppervlak eienskappe sowel as die warmteoordrag koëffisiënte. Die emisiviteit beinvloed die oorgangs punt van enkel na twee fase vloei sowel as die kondenser uitlaat temperatuur. Die enkel fase warmteoordrag koëffisiënt het n beduidende invloed op die kondenser uitlaat temperatuur terwyl dit voorkom asof die spesifieke kombinasie van die koking en kondensasie warmteoordrag koëffisiënte minimale invloed op die resultate het in die twee fase gebied. Vlekvrye staal en aluminium is gebruik om die lus te bou met water as die verkoelings middel. Warmte is toegevoeg tot die stelsel deur ’n vlekvrye staal verhittings plaat terwyl ‘n 200 L water tenk die warmte onttrek het. Temperatuur en massa vloei tempo is aangeteken as ‘n funksie van tyd vir verskeie verhitting/verkoellings oorgangs gedragte vanaf begin tot bestendige toestand vir drie bedryfs modusse. Die drie bedryfs modusse was enkel fase, twee fase en hitte pyp modus. Dit is bevind dat die teoretiese temperature redelik goed ooreengekom het met die eksperimentele waardes. Die tyd wat dit neem om by die bedryfs temperatuur te kom soos voorspel deur die teorie is egter langer as wat in die eksperiment gevind is. Dit is te verstane wanneer die onsekerheid in die warmteoordrag koëffisiënte en materiaal oppervlak eienskappe in ag geneem word. Die fin temperature het ‘n swakker ooreenkoms getoon as gevolg van beduidende termiese stratifikasie van die lug tussen die fin en verhittings plaat. Verskeie tekortkominge in die teoretiese model en eksperimentele opstelling is geïdentifiseer en bespreek. Die gevolgtrekking is gemaak dat die ondersoek bewys dat geslote lus termoheuwels ‘n lewensvatbare opsie is vir ‘n reaktor kamer verkoellings stelsel en dat die wiskundige model lewensvatbaar is vir teoretiese simulasie. Verskeie aanbevelings word egter gemaak om die tekortkominge in die teoretiese en eksperimentele modelle aan te spreek om so doende die gevolgtrekking te staaf. Dit word aanbeveel dat beter waardes vir die materiaal oppervlak eienskappe en warmteoordrag koëffisiënte gevind word en verbeterde massa vloei meetings gedoen word. Dit word verder aanbeveel om skaleering asook natuurlike konveksie buite die lus te ondersoek en om die rekenaar program by te werk.

Thesis (MScEng (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The feasibility of a closed loop thermosyphon for the Reactor Cavity Cooling System of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor has been the subject of many research projects. Difficulties identified by previous studies include the hypothetical inaccuracies of heat transfer coefficient correlations available in literature. The aim of the research presented here is to develop inside-pipe heat transfer correlations that are specific to the current design of the RCCS. In order to achieve this, a literature review is performed which identifies reactors which employ closed loop thermosyphons and natural circulation. The literature review also explains the general one-dimensional two-fluid conservation equations that form the basis for numerical modelling of natural circulation loops. The literature review lastly discusses available heat transfer coefficient correlations with the aim of identifying over which ranges and under which circumstances these correlations are considered accurate. The review includes correlations commonly used in natural circulation modelling in the nuclear industry in aims of identifying correlations applicable to the modelling of the proposed RCCS. One of the objectives of this project is to design and build a one-third-height-scale model of the RCCS. Shortcomings of previous experimental models were assessed and, as far as possible, compensated for in the design of the model. Copper piping is used, eliminating material and surface property uncertainties. Several sight glasses are incorporated in the model, allowing for the visual identification of two-phase flow regimes. An orifice plate is used allowing for bidirectional flow measurement. The orifice plate, thermocouples and pipe-in-pipe heat exchangers are calibrated in-situ to minimize experimental error and aid repeatability. Twelve experiments are performed with data logging occurring every ten seconds. The results presented here are limited to selected single and two-phase flow operating mode results. Error analyses and repeatability of experimental measurements for single and two-phase operating modes as well as cooling water mass flow rates are performed, to show repeatability of experimental results. These results are used to mathematically determine the experimental inside-pipe heat transfer coefficients for both the evaporator and condenser sections. Trends in the heat transfer coefficient profiles are identified and the general behaviour of the profiles is thoroughly explained. The RCCS is modelled as a one-dimensional system. Correlations for the friction factor, heat transfer coefficient, void fraction and two-phase frictional multiplier are identified. The theoretical heat transfer coefficients are calculated using the mathematical model and correlations identified in the literature review. Fluid parameters are evaluated using experimentally determined temperatures and mass flow rates. The resulting heat transfer coefficient profiles are compared to experimentally determined profiles, to confirm the hypothesis that existing correlations do not accurately predict the inside-pipe heat transfer coefficients. The experimentally determined coefficients are correlated to 99% confidence intervals. These generated correlations, along with identified and established twophase heat transfer coefficient correlations, are used in a mathematical model to generate theoretical coefficient profiles. These are compared to the experimentally determined coefficients to show prediction accuracy.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die haalbaarheid van ‘n natuurlike sirkulasie geslote lus vir die Reaktor Holte Verkoeling Stelsel (RHVS) van die Korrelbed Modulêre Kern-Reaktor (KMKR) is die onderwerp van talle navorsings projekte. Probleme geïdentifiseer in vorige studies sluit in die hipotetiese onakkuraatheid van hitte-oordrag koëffisiënt korrelasies beskikbaar in literatuur. Die doel van die navorsing aangebied is om binne-pyp hitte-oordrag koëffisiënt korrelasies te ontwikkel spesifiek vir die huidige ontwerp van die RHVS. Ten einde dit te bereik, word ‘n literatuurstudie uitgevoer wat kern-reaktors identifiseer wat gebruik maak van natuurlike sirkulasie lusse. Die literatuurstudie verduidelik ook die algemene een-dimensionele twee-vloeistof behoud vergelykings wat die basis vorm vir numeriese modellering van natuurlike sirkulasie lusse. Die literatuurstudie bespreek laastens beskikbare hitte-oordrag koëffisiënt korrelasies met die doel om te identifiseer vir welke massavloei tempo waardes en onder watter omstandighede hierdie korrelasies as korrek beskou is. Die ontleding sluit korrelasies in wat algemeen gebruik word in die modellering van natuurlike sirkulasie in die kern industrie met die hoop om korrelasies vir gebruik in die modellering van die voorgestelde RHVS te identifiseer. Een van die doelwitte van die projek is om ‘n een-derde-hoogte-skaal model van die RHVS te ontwerp en te bou. Tekortkominge van vorige eksperimentele modelle is geidentifiseer en, so ver as moonlik, voor vergoed in die ontwerp van die model. Koper pype word gebruik wat die onsekerhede van materiaal en opperkvlak eindomme voorkom. Verkseie deursigtige polikarbonaat segmente is ingesluit wat visuele identifikasie van twee-fase vloei regimes toelaat. ‘n Opening plaat word gebruik om voorwaartse en terugwaartse vloeimeting toe te laat. Die opening plaat, termokoppels en hitte uitruilers is gekalibreer in plek om eksperimentele foute te verminder en om herhaalbaarheid te verseker. Twaalf eksperimente word uitgevoer en data word elke tien sekondes aangeteken. Die resultate wat hier aangebied word, is beperk tot geselekteerde enkel- en tweefase vloei meganismes van werking. Fout ontleding en herhaalbaarheid van eksperimentele metings, om die herhaalbaarheid van eksperimentele resultate te toon. Hierdie is gebruik om wiskundig te bepaal wat die eksperimentele binne-pyp hitte-oordrag koëffisiënte is vir beide die verdamper en kondenseerder afdelings. Tendense in die hitte-oordrag koëffisiënt profiele word geïdentifiseer en die algemene gedrag van die profiles is deeglik verduidelik. Die RHVS is gemodelleer as 'n een-dimensionele stelsel. Korrelasies vir die wrywing faktor, hitte-oordrag koëffisiënte, leegte-breuk en twee-fase wrywings vermenigvuldiger word geïdentifiseer. Die teoretiese hitte-oordrag koëffisiënte word bereken deur middle van die wiskundige model en korrelasies wat in literatuur geidentifiseer is. Vloeistof parameters is geëvalueer met eksperimenteel bepaalde temperature en massa-vloei tempos. Die gevolglike hitte-oordrag koëffisiënt profiles is vergelyk met eksperimentele profiele om die hipotese dat die bestaande korrelasies nie die binne-pyp hitte-oordrag koëffisiënte akkuraat voorspel nie, te bevestig. Die eksperimenteel bepaalde koëffisiënte is gekorreleer en die gegenereerde korrelasies, saam met geïdentifiseerde twee-fase hitte-oordrag koëffisiënt korrelasies, word gebruik in 'n wiskundige model om teoretiese koëffisiënt profiele te genereer. Dit word dan vergelyk met die eksperimenteel bepaalde hitteoordrag koëffisiënte om die akkuraatheid van voorspelling te toon. Tekortkominge in die teoretiese en eksperimentele model word geïdentifiseer en aanbevelings gemaak om hulle aan te spreek in die toekoms.

Circuitos de convecção natural ou sistemas de circulação natural são empregados em diversas áreas da engenharia. Reatores nucleares refrigerados a água utilizam circuitos de circulação natural como método passivo de seguranca. Em situações críticas, sem qualquer controle externo, o sistema permanece em segurança por suas próprias características de funcionamento (intrinsecamente seguro). O trabalho proposto consiste em estudar numericamente o circuito de circulação natural de água, localizado no Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares / Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear em São Paulo, por meio do uso de modelos matemáticos, objetivando determinar o padrão do escoamento em condições sem mudança de fase líquido-vapor. A comparação dos resultados de temperatura obtidos por cada um dos modelos de turbulência aos pontos instrumentados no circuito experimental, na condição transitória, revelou desvios significativos nas respostas do modelo de zero equação. Desvios intermediário foram observados nos modelos de transporte da viscosidade turbulenta (EVTE), k - ω, SST e SSG e resultados melhores foram vericados nos modelos k - ε e DES (com significativa superioridade do primeiro modelo).
Natural circulation loops apply to many engineering applications such as: water heating solar energy system (thermo-siphons), thermal management of electrical components (voltage converter), geothermal energy, nuclear reactors, etc. In pressurized water nuclear reactors, known as PWR\'s, the natural circulation loops are employed to ensure passive safety. In critical situations, the heat transfer will occur only by natural convection, without any external control or mechanical devices. This feature is desired and has been considered in modern nuclear reactor projects. This work consists of a numerical study of the natural circulation loop, located at the Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares / Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear in São Paulo, Brazil, in order to establish the ow pattern in single phase conditions. The comparison of numerical results to experiments in transient condition revealed significant deviations for the Zero Equation turbulence model. Intermediate deviations for the Eddy Viscosity Turbulence Equation (EVTE), k - ω, SST e SSG models. And the best results are obtained by the k - ε e DES models (with better results for the k - ε model).

博士
國立清華大學
工程與系統科學系
86
Two-Phase Flow Instability Experiment in a Natural Circulation Loop Abstract Because of their high heat transfer capability, simplicity, and inherently safe nature, two phase natural circulation loops have manyindustrial applications, such as waste heat recovery, chemical processes using thermosiphon reboilers, and the next generation boiling water reactor. The thermal-hydraulic instability of a two-phase natural circulation loop, which is a complex multivariable system with high non-linearity, was investigated experimentally based on the Taguchi method. Excellent results were obtained and a broad picture of the trends producedby the various parameters that affect instability is presented. This study concluded that, within the experimental range, the inlet temperature,heating power and the presence of the unheated bypass channel are the three most dominant factors affecting the loop instability. The Taguchi method is found to be very efficient and there is a great deal of savingin the experimental work. The 20 runs of experiment based on the Taguchi method suggests that the stability of the present two-phase natural circulation loop would be improved under the following conditions: decreased inlet temperature, decreased thermal load, disconnected unheated bypass channel, installing the compressible volume with a higher water level in the downstream two-phase flow region, disconnected upstream compressiblevolume, increased single-phase flow restrictions, and decreased two-phase flow restrictions. Although the same trends bear the standard method of stabilizing a boiling channel, the restriction factors in the presentexperimental investigation are found to be ineffective in dampening the thermal-hydraulic instability. ( Keywords: two-phase flow, natural circulation loop, instability, Taguchi method )

Experimental thermal-hydraulic study of a rectangular supercritical CO2 natural-circulation loop with a horizontal heated channel was conducted at different steady-state conditions. These included different system pressures and three different inlet temperatures, with different inlet and outlet valve openings. Approximately, 450 experimental steady-state data-points were collected. The data include measurements of pressure-drop along the heated channel, pressure-drop across inlet and outlet valves, applied heat on the heated channel, pressure, temperature and flow-rate. Steady-state curves of mass flow-rate versus power, outlet temperature versus power, and detailed information of frictional pressure drop and local head loss coefficients were produced. Comparison showed that for the available experimental set-up, computed frictional pressure-drops fell within 1-1.20 of the Blasius formula prediction. Moreover, flow oscillations were observed in several cases when outlet temperature of CO2 was higher than the pseudo-critical temperature on the negative slope part of the mass flow-rate versus power curve.

碩士
國立海洋大學
航海技術學系
82
Boilers and steam generators are widely used in business and industry sections to supply heat, power or electric energy. In recent years, the conventional boiler systems are pushed by the investigations of new necessary, such as new industry technology and environment's protection. It is now necessary to making boiler and boiler systems have a whole new situation. This study focuses in boiler's natural-circulation loop analysis. After analyzing the characteristics of natural- circulation loop, I think it is available to make boiler's design with a viewpoint of natural-circulation loop analysis. For the more, the questions of environment's protection andenergy crisis can be solved with hte boiler system control and new industry technology (such as power electronics, ....etc.) to improve the energy efficiency of boiler systems and get hteaims of energy-saving.

Natural convection provides a means for circulating fluids without the use of pumps. This type of system is of great interest for a wide variety of applications, including solar heaters, process industry, and nuclear reactors. Natural convection will play a vital role in the area of passive safety and reliability, particularly for the development of Generation IV nuclear energy systems. This study mainly focuses on the linear stability analysis of asymmetrically heated/cooled natural convection loops with large temperature variations across the heated core. The study targets the Argonne Lead Loop Facility (ALLF), a concept for an experiment loop to support the development of the Secure Transportable Autonomous Reactor-Liquid Metal (STAR-LM) at Argonne National Laboratory, using lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) as the primary reactor coolant. A one-dimensional linear stability analysis is performed and the Nyquist criterion is employed to find the linear stability boundary of both forward and backward circulations. It was found that the natural circulations could be linearly unstable in a high Reynolds number region. Increasing loop friction makes a forward circulation more stable, but destabilizes the corresponding backward circulation under the same heating/cooling conditions. The preliminary results suggest that as the Peclet number decreases, the forward circulation is prone to become unstable while the backward circulation is prone to remain stable.
Graduation date: 2003

碩士
國立清華大學
工程與系統科學系
102
In this study, the enhancement of heat transfer capacity of a two-phase natural circulation loop with divergent microchannels is explored. The previous research in our labortory shows that the divergent microchannels can significantly stablize the two-phase in the microchannel. We use two different design, chip1 and chip 2, of microchannel as the evaporator to conduct the natural circulation loop experiments using 95% ethanol. The dimension of the microchannel chip is 10mm×10mm. There are 18 parallel microchannels in chip 1 with width diverging from 250μm to 350μm, with uniform depth of 200μm. This kind of design cannot increase the heat removal area effectively, the experimental results show that highest heat removal capacity is only about 70W. We therefore, re-design the microchannel evaporator as width diverging from 150μm to 250μm with depth of 350μm, and the amount of microchannels is increased to 30 for chip 2. The results reveal that the flow velocity and the mass flow rate of the loop are 2.33 times higher than the previous one, so the heat transfer capacity are advanced effectively with the highest heat removal capability of 110W. By observing the flow patterns in the evaporator and riser with a high speed video camera, we can reveal the flashing instability phenomenon same as observed in the normal scaled natural circulation loop. The instability of the loop can be suppressed while the input power is increased, after the loop reach the dryout condition, the loop will become unstable again. The experimental results shows the highest wall heat flux with different microchannel chip is 529kW/m^2 (chip 1)and 481 kW/m^2(chip 2). To make further improvement of heat transfer capacity, we change the working fluid as ethanol-water mixtures as ethanol mole fraction of 0.1. The results show that the two-phase flow in the loop is quite unstable. Moreover, when the input power is 90W, the counter flow appears in the riser. The ethanol-water mixtures may not be suitable for the natural circulation loop at low pressure.

碩士
國立清華大學
工程與系統科學系
103
In order to reduce the large space of 1L condensing water tank in our previous microchannel natural circulation loop (NCL), this study employs thermoelectric cooler incorporating with cooling copper channels instead as the condensing section in this NCL to develop the cooling methodology for the electronics, such as Central Processing Unit (CPU). According to the real size of current CPU, the base area of microchannel evaporator in the present NCL is modified from 10.5x10.5mm2 to 31x31 mm2. Our previous studies had recognized that the divergent microchannels can significantly stabilize the two-phase microchannel NCL. In addition to increase the wall-to-base area ratio, the divergent design is only applied to the front section of all the 78 parallel microchannels with uniform depth of 300 μm. Accordingly, the width of each microchannel is diverging from 150 μm at the inlet to 300 μm at the location of 16mm from the inlet, and then with an uniform cross-section with a width of 300μm until the outlet. Thus, it will result in a wall-to-base area ratio of 2.1. 　　The 99.8% ethanol is adopted as the working fluid in the NCL. Its boiling temperature is about 78.4 ℃ at 1 atm. With a filling ratio of 100%, the experimental results show that thermoelectric cooler together with cooling copper channels may increase loop flow resistance and reduce heat removal capability. The temperature at the evaporator outlet is higher than the saturated temperature at 1 atm. It implies that the fluid pressure inside the loop is possibly higher than 1 atm. The higher pressure may be caused by the confined space for bubble growth after the boiling inception and thus affect the heat removal capability of NCL. Therefore, this study also investigates different filling ratios on the performance of the present NCL. The experimental results reveal that the filling ratio has a significant effect on the two-phase flow characteristics of this NCL. The optimum filling ratio is supposed to be about 90%. 　　In order to further improve heat transfer capacity of the NCL, this study enlarges the diameter of the riser and downcomer from 4mm to 8mm. However, the results show the counter-current flow appears in the riser due to the thicker liquid film deposited in the riser and the larger flow resistance existing in the cooling cooper channels. This will reduce the heat removal capability of this NCL. 　　Based on the above results, the thermoelectric cooler incorporating with cooling copper channel may not be suitable for this microchannel NCL. It needs a further improvement to increase the heat removal capability and meets the cooling requirement of CPU.

碩士
國立成功大學
機械工程學系碩博士班
93
This study aims, via numerical simulations, to investigate the effects of geometric parameters, including the length of heated section, the mean relative elevation of the cooled section, and the aspect ratio of the loop, on the heat transfer characteristics of phase-change-material (PCM) suspensions in a rectangular loop of thermosyphon. The loop is composed of a heated section, a cooled section, and two adiabatic sections between them. The loop is heated uniformly by a constant heat flux over the length of the bottom horizontal leg and cooled isothermally over the length of the upper portion of the right vertical leg at a constant temperature . Numerical simulations have been undertaken for the pertinent dimensionless parameters in the ranges as follows：volumetric fraction of PCM particles , the modified Rayleigh number , the modified subcooling factor , the modified Stefan number , the thermal conductivity ratio of wall to the suspending fluid , the dimensionless wall thickness , the aspect ratio of rectangular loop , the dimensionless length of heated section and the dimensionless mean relative elevation of the cooled section to the bottom horizontal leg . Among the three geometric parameters considered, numerical results clearly indicate that variation of the length of the heated section can exert significant effects on the heat transfer characteristics of PCM suspensions in a rectangular loop of thermosyphon.

碩士
國立成功大學
機械工程學系碩博士班
100
In this study, experiments were conducted to obtain a better understanding of heat transfer characteristics of water-based suspensions of phase change material nanocapsules in a natural circulation loop with minichannel heat sink and heat source. With the core material of n-Eicosane and the shell of urea-formaldehyde resin, the phase change material nanocapsules of a mean particle size of 150nm were fabricated successfully and then dispersed in pure water as the based fluid to form the water-based nanofluids having the mass fractions of the nanocapsules in the ranges of 0.1-1 wt.%. Of the natural circulation loop, the heat sink and heat source sections were fabricated from copper consist of 26 and 34 rectangular minichannels, respectively, each of which has a width of 0.8 mm, a depth of 1.2 mm, a length of 50 mm with a hydraulic diameter of 0.96 mm. While the adiabatic sections of the circulation loop were constructed using PMMA circular tubes of 4 mm and 6 mm in inner and outer diameters.The experiments were performed with the modified Rayleigh numbers ranged from 3.99×〖10〗^7 to 3.21×〖10〗^8. The experimental results clearly indicate that water-based suspensions of phase change nanocapsules can markedly enhance the heat transfer performance of the natural circulation loop.