Natural Convection in a Partially Heat Generating Rod Bundle Inside an Enclosure

Abstract

Buoyancy induced flows in a partially heat generating rod bundle enclosed inside a tall cavity are investigated. First, a detailed experimental study is carried out, and the thermal hydraulics is analyzed at different power inputs and boundary cooling rates of the enclosure. Later, a generalized non-Darcy simulation is developed using a heat generating orthotropic porous media approach and is compared with the experimental results. The results of a numerical simulation for natural convection in enclosed partially heat generating rod bundles satisfactorily predict the temperature distribution within the rod bundle. Finally, a parametric study is carried out by varying the porosity (pitch to diameter ratio of the rod bundle) of the considered enclosure for the understanding of flow physics and heat transfer in such applications.