CFD Analysis of a Sphere-Packed Pipe for Potential Application in the Molten Salt Blanket System

چکیده مقاله

This computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis aims to evaluate the flow structures and heat transfer characteristics in Sphere Packed Pipe (SPP) for potential application in Fusion reactors. The SPP consists of metal spheres which are packed in a pipe and disturb the flow inside of the pipe to boost the heat transfer. One of the potential applications of SPP is using it at the first wall of Force Free Helical Reactors (FFHR). In this study the numerical model has improved on the numerical model, gaps between pebbles and channel wall, and turbulent model compared to previous numerical studies. The standard k-ε model, Omega Reynolds stress model, the Shear Stress Transport (SST) model and k-ε EARSM/BSL have been applied as turbulence model to examine the effect of turbulence model on validation of numerical results. Results showed that among the considered turbulent models, the overall heat transfer characteristic in terms of the relation between Nu and Re was well predicted by k-ε EARSM/BSL turbulent model. The present numerical model can be used in the design of the blanket of Fusion reactor.