Faculty Publications
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Item Effect of CO2 based natural circulation loop for low temperature applications: CFD analysis(Toronto Metropolitan University, 2019) Wahidi, T.; Nagrani, P.P.; Yadav, A.K.Natural circulation loop (NCL) is a simple and economical heat transfer device in which flow occurs due to the buoyancy effect caused by thermally generated density gradient. In the present study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses are carried out to emphasize on the fluid ow and heat transfer characteristics of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) based NCL at low temperature (-38°C to 12°C). Studies are conducted in a three-dimensional (3-D) CFD model of NCL at different heat inputs i.e., 100W, 250W, 350W and 500W by keeping the loop fluid at pressure of 50 bar. Methanol is used as coolant in the heat exchanger at a fixed mass flow rate. Effect of loop operating pressure 50 bar on system performance is also investigated. Result are presented in the form of heat transfer rate, pressure drop, Reynolds number (Re) and temperature. Obtained results are validated with available correlations in the form of non-dimensional numbers, and found in good agreement. © 2019, Toronto Metropolitan University. All rights reserved.Item Numerical Instability Assessment of Natural Circulation Loop Subjected to Different Heating Conditions(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2022) Thimmaiah, S.; Wahidi, T.; Yadav, A.K.; Arun, M.Natural circulation loop (NCL) is a passive system in which the driving action of the buoyancy force establishes fluid circulation by overcoming the frictional force without the help of any external power source. NCLs are prone to several kinds of instabilities due to the nonlinearity of the natural convection process. In fact, it is an inability of NCLs to sustain themselves against small perturbations to which any physical system is subjected. This instability in fluid flow creates flow oscillation, chaotic non-linear dynamic behaviour and flow reversal. In this article, three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulations have been carried out for a range of supercritical pressures (80 bar to100 bar) and heat inputs (250 W to 2500 W) to do the comparative investigation of instability phenomenon in supercritical CO2-based regular natural circulation loop configured with two different types of heat sources, i.e. heater and isothermal wall at the source with a cold heat exchanger (CHX) at sink. Results show higher instabilities for heater-exchanger loop (Heater-CHX) than an isothermal heater with heat-exchanger loop (ISO-CHX). With an increase in heat input, loops attain stability at a faster rate for a given operating pressure. At a lower heat input, both the loops show bidirectional fluctuation, whereas it is unidirectional at high heat input. Nusselt number shows that the Heater-CHX loop’s heat transfer capability is more compared to ISO-CHX loops. Obtained results are validated with the existing correlations, and a good agreement is obtained. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.Item Comparative Numerical Appraisal of Subcritical and Supercritical CO2-Based Natural Circulation Loop(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2022) Wahidi, T.; Yadav, A.K.A natural circulation loop (NCL) is a passive heat transfer system in which circulation occurs solely due to density differences caused by thermal imbalance and the elevational difference between the source and sink of the loop. Carbon dioxide (CO2)-based NCL is highly sensitive to operating conditions and vulnerable to unstable behaviour, mainly due to intense changes in the thermo-physical properties of CO2. Therefore, NCLs always require precise design assessment that focusses on the interaction of all the transient responses of buoyancy and friction forces, ensuring a stable zone of operation. In this article, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics study has been carried out for over a range of pressures (30 to 100 bar) and heat inputs (500 to 1500 W) to do the comparative investigation of fluid flow and heat transfer phenomenon of subcritical/supercritical CO2-based NCLs with water-based NCL. The simulations quantify the degree of instability and heat transfer rate for subcritical/supercritical CO2 and water. A possible mechanism for continuous flow oscillation and measurement of instability with different pressure in unstable loops is also proposed in this study. Obtained results are validated with the correlations available in the literature; it shows an amicable agreement. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.Item Comparative computational appraisal of supercritical CO2-based natural circulation loop: effect of heat-exchanger and isothermal wall(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2020) Thimmaiah, S.; Wahidi, T.; Yadav, A.; Mahalingam, A.Natural circulation loop (NCL) is a geometrically simple heat transfer device in which fluid flow occurs due to density gradient of loop fluid, induced by the temperature difference between the source and the sink. NCL has an inherent problem of instability caused by the combined effect of buoyancy, friction and inertia forces at varying operating conditions, and hence it requires an elegant solution of instability. The primary objective of the present work is to do a comparative study on the dynamic performance between two different configurations of NCL based on supercritical CO2, i.e. (i) NCL with isothermal heater and a cold heat-exchanger (ISO-CHX), and (ii) NCL with hot and cold heat-exchangers (HHX-CHX). To explore these NCLs, two-dimensional transient computational fluid dynamics studies have been carried out on the stability of supercritical CO2-based natural circulation loop. Results are obtained for different operating pressures and temperatures in the form of mass flow rate and velocity variation with respect to time. Results show the higher instabilities in both side heat-exchanger loop than an isothermal heater with heat-exchanger loop. At a lower rate of heat input at source in the HHX-CHX loop, the mass flow is bidirectional, whereas it is unidirectional in the ISO-CHX loop at all level of heat input. It is also observed that as pressure increases, flow instability also increases. Obtained results are validated with the published experimental and numerical data and found in good agreement. © 2020, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.Item Stability enhancement of supercritical CO2 based natural circulation loop using a modified Tesla valve(Elsevier B.V., 2020) Wahidi, T.; Chandavar, R.A.; Yadav, A.K.This article deals with the comparative investigation of instability phenomenon in supercritical CO2 based regular natural circulation loop and a new modified Tesla natural circulation loop. Two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation is carried out for square loops. Fluid flow behaviour and performance of both the loops are determined over a range of pressures (80–100 bar) and heat inputs (500–2000 W). Results show that the use of a modified Tesla valve leads to better stabilization for all supercritical pressures and heat inputs. It is also found that loop with Tesla mitigates the temperature and velocity oscillations without reducing the heat transfer performance. A good agreement with existing correlations is also obtained in the present study. The unidirectional fluid flow circulation achieved in loop with Tesla valve, makes it an efficient technique to combat instability. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.Item Instability mitigation by integrating twin Tesla type valves in supercritical carbon dioxide based natural circulation loop(Elsevier Ltd, 2021) Wahidi, T.; Yadav, A.K.Flow instability in supercritical fluid based natural circulation loop (NCL) is still an investigation aspect of physical and mathematical problems to comprehend. Therefore, NCLs require precise design assessment that focuses on the interaction of all the transient responses of buoyancy and friction forces which can ensure a stable zone of operation. To promote the uni-directional circulatory movement of loop fluid and to decrease the magnitude of instability, this research emphasizes the development of NCL integrated with two modified Tesla type valves. In this article, numerical simulations have been carried out for a range of supercritical pressures (80–100 bar) and heat inputs (500–2000 W) to do the comparative investigation of instability phenomenon in supercritical carbon dioxide based regular natural circulation loop and a new modified twin Tesla NCL. Results show that the use of modified Tesla valves leads to better stabilization for all supercritical pressures and heat inputs considered in the study. It is also found that the proposed Tesla NCL mitigates the temperature and velocity oscillations with a marginal drop of ?3% in the heat transfer performance. Using asymmetrical flow resistance to stimulate directional circulation is an efficient technique to combat this instability issue. Obtained results are validated with the existing correlations, and a good agreement is obtained. © 2020 Elsevier LtdItem Supercritical CO2 flow instability in natural circulation loop: CFD analysis(Elsevier Ltd, 2021) Wahidi, T.; Chandavar, R.A.; Yadav, A.K.Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation on a supercritical CO2 based natural circulation loop (scCO2-NCL) is carried out to explore the effects of various parameters (i.e., pressure and heat inputs) on the loop's transient and stability behaviour. Results show that for supercritical CO2, there is a threshold point that decides the flow's nature. Lower than threshold heat inputs flow shows repetitive-reversal flow while at higher heat input the flow changes to stable or single-direction flow. With an increase in heat input, the system attains stability for a given operating pressure. In addition, a possible mechanism for continuous flow oscillation and measurement of instability with different pressure in unstable loops is also proposed in this study. It is found that the Nusselt number decreases with an increase in operating pressure for given heat input. Obtained simulation results are validated with the two existing correlations and found a good agreement. © 2021 Elsevier LtdItem Numerical assessment of stability behaviour in supercritical CO2 based NCLS configured with heater, heat exchanger and isothermal wall as heat sources(Yildiz Technical University, 2023) Thimmaiah, S.; Wahidi, T.; Yadav, A.K.; Mahalingam, A.Three-dimensional numerical analysis is presented in this study to assess the transient and stability behaviour of supercritical CO2 (sCO2) based NCLs configured with three different types of heat sources, i.e., heater, a hot heat exchanger (HHX) and isothermal wall (ISO) at the source, and a cold heat exchanger (CHX) at the sink in all three NCLs. Unsteady threedimensional conservation equations (mass, momentum and energy equations) are solved to assess the transient and stability behaviour of sCO2 mass flow rate, temperature and velocity as a function of time. Further, the effect of pressure on sCO2 mass flow rate is also assessed to compare the loops performance. Performance of the loop has been studied for various heat inputs at the source by keeping constant mass flow rate and temperature at the sink. It is observed that for any boundary condition at the source, the loop experiences some initial disturbances or instabilities before reaching the steady-state. However, the time needed to attain a steady-state varies with the nature of heat input employed at the source. Results show a higher magnitude of instabilities in the Heater-CHX loop than HHX-CHX and ISO-CHX loops, and these instabilities mitigate at a faster rate in the ISO-CHX loop at all levels of heat input and operating pressure of the loop. It is also observed that as loop fluid operating pressure increases, the instability of the system decreases and the loop fluid mass flow rate increases. Further, the Nusselt number in the Heater-CHX loop is more than other loops because of its high turbulent kinetic energy. The findings of this study are validated with the published experimental and numerical data and found a good agreement © Copyright 2021, Yıldız Technical University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)