Effects of shape and size on countercurrent flow limitation in flow channels simulating a PWR hot leg

A numerical study is presented to examine the effects on countercurrent flow limitation (CCFL) of shape and size of hot leg models with a rectangular cross section. The CCFL was described in terms of Wallis parameters using the channel height H as the characteristic length. Numerical simulations, using the CFD software code FLUENT 6.3.26, were done for the air-water CCFL experiments carried out previously at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) in the 1/3 scale hot leg model with a rectangular channel (HxW = 0.25x0.05 m²), and the results were compared with the air-water CCFL data obtained at Kobe University in the 1/5 scale hot leg model with rectangular cross section (HxW = 0.15x0.01 m²) and the results of simulations. It was found that both the height-to-width ratio and the size of the cross section affected the CCFL characteristics in the Wallis diagram. Comparison of CCFL characteristics in rectangular channels with those in circular channels showed that the hydraulic diameter, Dh, was a major cross section geometry term influencing the CCFL characteristics. CCFL constants of the Wallis correlation were about 0.61 on average for the range of 0.05 m < Dh < 0.75 m but became small for Dh < 0.0254 m, and these tendencies were well reproduced by the numerical simulations.