DNS and Highly-Resolved LES of Heat and Mass Transfer in Two-Phase Counter-Current Condensing Flow

Abstract

A comprehensive study of direct-contact condensation heat transfer for turbulent, counter-current, liquid/vapour flow in a nearly horizontal channel at high pressure (i.e. 5 MPa) has been carried out based on Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) and highly-resolved Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approaches. To simulate the two-phase flow situation, driven in this case by a constant pressure gradient, a single set of Navier–Stokes equations, coupled with an enthalpy conservation equation, have been employed. The interfacial mass transfer, seen in this case to be dominated by condensation, has been calculated directly from the heat flux at the liquid/vapour interface. To investigate the effect of condensation on the turbulence phenomena, and vice versa, cases have been considered involving two friction Reynolds numbers: namely $$Re_{*}=u_{*}h/\nu =178$$ R e ∗ = u ∗ h / ν = 178 and $$Re_{*}=u_{*}h/\nu =590$$ R e ∗ = u ∗ h / ν = 590 ($$u_{*}=(h\varDelta P/\rho )^{1/2}$$ u ∗ = ( h Δ P / ρ ) 1 / 2 ). At the lower Reynolds number, three levels of water subcooling—0 K, 10 K and 40 K—have been investigated. The use of water subcooling of 0 K has enabled the validation and verification procedures associated with the numerical approach to be compared against experimental and numerical data reported in the literature. The choice of the maximum degree of water subcooling is dictated by the need to justify the periodic boundary conditions applied in this numerical study. In the simulation for the higher Reynolds number, only the case of 10 K subcooling has been included, as a consequence of the very high computation effort involved. A detailed statistical analysis of the DNS and LES data obtained from the application of the well-known wall laws has also been assessed. In the vicinity of the liquid/vapour interface, the characteristics of the turbulent motions appear somewhat diverse, depending on whether the interface is basically flat or wavy in character. For a flat interface, some damping effect of the presence of the interface on the turbulence intensity has been observed, a feature which becomes enhanced as the level of liquid subcooling is increased. In the case of a wavy interface, the damping effect is predicted as considerably less pronounced.