An attempt to make a reliable assessment of the wet steam flow field in the de Laval nozzle

Abstract

This paper presents the results of research on the wet steam flow with spontaneous condensation in the de Laval nozzle. A comparison is made between the results of numerical modelling performed for two cases of boundary conditions obtained using an in-house CFD code and the Ansys CFX commercial package. The numerical modelling results are compared to the results of experimental testing carried out on an in-house laboratory steam tunnel. The differences between the numerical results produced by the two codes in terms of place and intensity of condensations of steam to water point to the difficulty in correct modelling of this type of flows and emphasize the need for further studies in this field.