Experimental Evaluation of Two-Phase Heat Transfer Coefficient Under Oscillatory Flow Conditions and Correlation Development

Abstract

Natural Circulation Boiling Water Reactors (NCBWRs) are prone to flow instabilities. Due to instabilities, heat transfer deteriorates. However, the extent to which the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) deteriorates is not well established. In the present work, experiments are conducted under controlled flow oscillations to evaluate the impact of the time period, mean mass flux, and amplitude ratio on HTC. Existing correlations for HTC are compared with experimental results and are found to be not satisfactory. To improve the predictions of HTC, correction factors are proposed for existing correlations. Further, an improved HTC correlation has been developed incorporating new non-dimensional numbers.