Development of an analytical model for pure vapor downflow condensation in a vertical tube

Abstract

In-tube condensation of pure vapor are widely adopted by passive safety systems of advanced nuclear reactors to remove the decay heat. Accurate calculation of the in-tube condensation heat transfer coefficient is important for evaluating the heat removal ability. A better understanding of the mechanism of pure vapor condensation heat transfer and its modelling are essential for the design and assessment of those passive safety systems. An analytical model for pure vapor condensation in a vertical tube is developed based on mass, momentum and energy conservation equations. The total axial pressure drop is calculated through the momentum equation of the vapor core assuming a uniform radial pressure distribution. An optimized transition area between the laminar and turbulent film flow is defined to avoid discontinuity of heat transfer coefficients. Based on the sensitivity analyses, Kay’s turbulent eddy diffusivity model and his turbulent Prandtl number model were recommended for the newly proposed model. The predicted results were compared with results of Shah (2016a,b), Chen et al. (1987) and Cavallini et al. (2002) correlations as well as Kuhn’s and KAIST experimental data. It was found that the proposed model predicts the heat transfer coefficient well with a mean absolute deviation of 11.99% for Kuhn’s data and 8.08% for KAIST’s data.