Author(s)

Edward Shitsi^*, Seth Kofi Debrah, Vincent Yao Agbodemegbe, Emmanuel Ampomah-Amoako

Department of Nuclear Engineering, Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.

Research into flow instability at both subcritical and supercritical pressures has attracted attention in recent years because of its potential of occurrence in industrial heat transfer systems. Flow instability has the potential to affect the safety of design and operation of heat transfer equipment. Flow instability is therefore undesirable and should be avoided in the design and operation of industrial equipment. Rahman et al. reviewed studies on supercritical water heat transfer with the aim of providing references for SCWR researchers. It was found out that most of the CFD studies and experimental studies were performed with single tube geometry due to the complexity of parallel channel geometry. Because studies performed with parallel channel geometry could provide detailed information to the design of the SCWR core, they called for more studies in parallel channel geometry at supercritical pressures in the future. In order to help understand how flow instability investigations are carried out and also highlight the need to understand flow instability phenomenon and equip the designers and operators of industrial heat transfer equipment with the needed knowledge on flow instability, this study carried out a review of flow instability in parallel channels with water at supercritical pressures.

Parallel Channels, Supercritical Pressure, Flow Instability, Supercritical Water Cooled Reactor

Shitsi, E. , Debrah, S. , Agbodemegbe, V. and Ampomah-Amoako, E. (2018) Flow Instability in Parallel Channels with Water at Supercritical Pressure: A Review. World Journal of Engineering and Technology, 6, 128-160. doi: 10.4236/wjet.2018.61008.