Numerical simulation of swirl-tube cooling concept, application to the ITER project

This paper presents a numerical study of a flow in a swirl tube, a concept suggested as a cooling system of the divertor in the ITER project. Experimental studies of this device were done by CEA/IRFM and measured temperatures are available. These temperatures have been measured at two points located inside the solid around the tube. The numerical analysis includes the simulation of both the solid and the flow inside the tube. This is done by the coupling of two codes. One code, SYRTHES (developed by EDF) computes the temperature field within the solid. The other one, NEPTUNE_CFD (a CEA/EDF/IRSN/AREVANP project), computes the flow. Due to the thermodynamic conditions, the flow boils and this is taken in account by the six equations model of NEPTUNE_CFD. Four experimental conditions, where the incident thermal fluxes are 5, 10, 16.83 and 20 MW/m2, have been computed and the numerical results are in agreement with the experimental measurements (they are inside the experimental range error).