Mathematical modeling of heat transfer in a closed two- phase thermosyphon

Abstract

We suggested a new approach for describing heat transfer in thermosyphons and determining the characteristic temperatures. The processes of thermogravitation convection in the coolant layer at the lower cap, phase transitions in the evaporation zone, heat transfer as a result of conduction in the lower cap are described at the problem statement. The main assumption, which was used during the problem formulation, is that the characteristic times of steam motion through the thermosyphon channel are much less than the characteristic times of thermal conductivity and free convection in the coolant layer at the lower cap of the thermosyphon. For this reason, the processes of steam motion in the thermosyphon channel, the condensate film on the upper cap and the vertical walls were not considered. The problem solution domain is a thermosyphon through which heat is removed from the energy-saturated equipment. The ranges of heat flow changes were chosen based on experimental data. The geometric parameters of thermosyphon and the fill factors were chosen the same as in the experiments (height is 161 mm, diameter is 42 mm, wall thickness is 1.5 mm, ε=4-16%) for subsequent comparison of numerical simulation results and experimental data. In the numerical analysis it was assumed that the thermophysical properties of thermosyphon and coolant caps do not depend on temperature; laminar flow regime was considered. The dimensionless equations of vortex, Poisson and energy transfer for the liquid coolant under natural convection and the equations of thermal conductivity for the lower cap wall are solved by the method of finite differences. Numerical simulation results showed the relationship between the characteristic temperatures and the heat flow supplied to the bottom cap of thermosyphon. The results of the theoretical analysis are in satisfactory agreement with the known experimental data.