Convective Heat Transfer in a Circular Annulus With Variable Heat Generation

Abstract

Earlier studies by Arnas et al., Arnas and Ebadian, and Ebadian et al. have shown that the nonuniform heat generation distribution considerably modifies convective heat transfer properties of fluid flows. The results presented here are for convective heat transfer in a circular annulus with a variable internal heat generation increasingly linearly along the radial direction from a value of zero at the inner periphery to a maximum value at the outer periphery. Along the length of the pipe, flow is assumed hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed and the inner and outer surface are maintained under uniform but different heat flux conditions. To improve the safety and to minimize the possibility of an accidental meltdown, future core clusters may be designed in an annular form. This configuration allows the inlet water to enter the reactor vessel in a downward direction along both inside and outside surfaces and leave the reactor in a vertically upward direction through the annular-shaped core.