Research on flow characteristics in supercritical water natural circulation: Influence of heating power distribution

There are many parameters that affect the natural circulation flow, such as height difference, heating power size, pipe diameter, system pressure and inlet temperature and so on. In general analysis the heating power is often regarded as a uniform distribution. The ANSYS-CFX numerical analysis software was used to analyze the flow heat transfer of supercritical water under different heating power distribution conditions. The distribution types of uniform, power increasing, power decreasing and sine function are investigated. Through the analysis, it can be concluded that different power distribution has a great influence on the flow of natural circulation if the total power of heating is constant. It was found that the peak flow of supercritical water natural circulation is maximal when the distribution of heating power is monotonically decreasing, minimal when it is monotonically increasing, and moderate at uniform or the sine type of heating. The simulation results further reveal the supercritical water under different heat transfer conditions on its flow characteristics. It can provide certain theory reference and system design for passive residual heat removal system about supercritical water.