Numerical Simulations of Thermal-Mixing in T-Junction Piping System Using Large Eddy Simulation Approach

Thermal striping phenomenon caused by mixing of fluids at different temperatures is one of the most important issues in design of fast breeder reactors (FBRs), because it may cause high-cycle thermal fatigue in structure. Authors have been developed a numerical simulation code MUGTHES to investigate thermal striping phenomena in FBRs and to give transient data of temperature in the fluid and the structure for an evaluation method of the high-cycle thermal fatigue problem. MUGTHES employs the boundary fitted coordinate (BFC) system and deals with three-dimensional transient thermal-hydraulic problems by using the large eddy simulation (LES) approach and artificial wall conditions derived by a wall function law. In this paper, numerical simulations of MUGTHES in T-junction piping system appear. Boundary conditions for the simulations are chosen from an existing water experiment in JAEA, named as WATLON experiment. The wall jet condition in which the branch pipe jet flows away touching main pipe wall on the branch pipe side and the impinging jet condition in which the branch pipe jet impinges on the wall surface on the opposite side of the branch pipe are selected, because significant temperature fluctuation may be induced on the wall surfaces by the branch pipe jet behavior. Numerical results by MUGTHES are validated by comparisons with measured velocity and temperature profiles. Three dimensional large-scale eddies are identified behind of the branch pipe jet in the wall jet case and in front of the branch pipe jet in the impinging jet case, respectively. Through these numerical simulations in the T-pipe, generation mechanism of temperature fluctuation in thermal mixing process is revealed in the relation with the large-scale eddy motion.© 2011 ASME