Experimental investigation of heat transfer from a 2 × 2 rod bundle to supercritical pressure water

Heat transfer experiments with supercritical pressure water flowing vertically upward through a 2 × 2 rod bundle have been performed at Xi’an Jiaotong University. A fuel-assembly simulator with four heated rods was installed inside a square channel with rounded corner. The outer diameter of each heated rod is 8 mm with an effective heated length of 600 mm. The experiments covered the pressure range of 23–28 MPa, mass-flux range of 350–1000 kg/(m2 s) and heat-flux range on the rod surface of 200–1000 kW/m2. Heat transfer characteristics of supercritical pressure water through the bundle were examined with respect to variations of heat flux, system pressure, and mass flux. These characteristics were shown to be similar to those previously observed in tubes or annuli. The experimental data indicate a non-uniform circumferential wall-temperature distribution around the heated rod. A maximum wall temperature was observed at the surface facing the corner gap between the heated rod and the ceramic tube, while the minimum wall temperature was observed at the surface facing the center subchannel. The difference between maximum and minimum wall temperatures varies with heat flux and/or mass flux. Eight heat transfer correlations developed for supercritical water were assessed against the current set of test data. Prediction of the Jackson correlation agrees closely with the experimental Nusselt number. A new correlation has been derived based on Jackson correlation to improve the prediction accuracy of supercritical heat transfer coefficient in a 2 × 2 rod bundle.