Numerical study on the heat transfer of carbon dioxide in horizontal straight tubes under supercritical pressure

Abstract

Cooling heat transfer of supercritical CO2 in horizontal straight tubes with wall is numerically investigated by using FLUENT. The results show that almost all models are able to present the trend of heat transfer qualitatively, and the stand k-ε with enhanced wall treatment model shows the best agreement with the experimental data, followed by LB low Re turbulence model. Then further studies are discussed on velocity, temperature and turbulence distributions. The parameters which are defined as the criterion of buoyancy effect on convection heat transfer are introduced to judge the condition of the fluid. The relationships among the inlet temperature, outlet temperature, the mass flow rate, the heat flux and the diameter are discussed and the difference between the cooling and heating of CO2 are compared.