Natural Convection's Transient Behavior

Abstract

Transient response of a natural convection system is investigated by numerical simulation using FLUENT code. An integrator circuit analogy was recently proposed for natural convection systems. The proposed analogy was further confirmed by these recent simulations. New simulation results also suggest that a natural convection system acts as a "low-pass" filter for transients. Transmission characteristics of a natural convection system were investigated using sinusoidal temperature at the source-side boundary. Transient transmission factor was found to be a function of both fluid properties and the flow characteristics. Transmission factor was also found to be a strong function of fluctuation frequency. These results may prove a significant design tool for Generation IV natural convection systems, particularly for lead-cooled fast reactors or molten salt reactors.

Department(s)

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science

Keywords and Phrases

FLUENT Code; Natural Convection System; Transient Response

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0029-5450

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2007 American Nuclear Society (ANS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2007

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