CFD model of diabatic annular two-phase flow using the Eulerian–Lagrangian approach

Abstract

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of annular two-phase flow with evaporating liquid film has been developed based on the Eulerian–Lagrangian approach, with the objective to predict the dryout occurrence. Due to the fact that the liquid film is sufficiently thin in the diabatic annular flow and at the pre-dryout conditions, it is assumed that the flow in the wall normal direction can be neglected, and the spatial gradients of the dependent variables tangential to the wall are negligible compared to those in the wall normal direction. Subsequently the transport equations of mass, momentum and energy for liquid film are integrated in the wall normal direction to obtain two-dimensional equations, with all the liquid film properties depth-averaged. The liquid film model is coupled to the gas core flow, which currently is represented using the Eulerian–Lagrangian technique. The mass, momentum and energy transfers between the liquid film, gas, and entrained droplets have been taken into account.The resultant unified model for annular flow has been applied to the steam–water flow with conditions typical for a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). The simulation results for the liquid film flow rate show favorable agreement with the experimental data, with the potential to predict the dryout occurrence based on criteria of critical film thickness or critical film flow rate.