Abstract
As part of a larger effort to demonstrate a simulation-based capability for the evaluation and optimization of helical coil steam generators, the performance of a helical coil steam generator tube is being considered using a Eulerian two-fluid multiphase flow capability implemented within the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code STAR-CCM+. The objective of these evaluations is to characterize boiling and the resultant two-phase flow structures within the helical coil heat exchanger tube so that structural analyses can more accurately account for vibration sources and damping. These studies have shown that CFD predictions using the two-fluid model are consistent with published measurements of pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics. The sensitivity of model predictions to both flow conditions and modeling parameters associated with bubble dynamics closure models has been investigated.
