Numerical simulation of flow through tube bundles in in‐line square and general staggered arrangements
International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow
ISSN: 0961-5539
Article publication date: 18 September 2009
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline more computational schemes which provide a low computational cost approach to analyze flow characteristics through tube bundles. Flow through tube bundles has been numerically simulated by means of an alternative approach so as to assess flow behavior and its characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
A Cartesian‐staggered grid based finite‐volume solver has been implemented. Furthermore, the ghost‐cell method in conjunction with Great‐Source‐Term technique has been employed in order to directly enforce no‐slip condition on the tubes boundaries. Before giving a solution for flow field through tube bundles, the accuracy of the solver is validated by simulation of flow in the cavity and also over a single circular cylinder. The results are completely compatible with the experiments reported in the literature.
Findings
Eventually, the flow through two types of tube bundles in in‐line square and general staggered arrangements in Re = 100 are simulated and analyzed. For these tube bundles that are being studied, the maximum drag and lift coefficients and maximum gap velocities have been numerically obtained. The same simulations have been also performed for the cases where the tube bundles are confined by two lateral walls.
Practical implications
These configurations are frequently used in heat exchangers, steam boilers, nuclear reactors, and many mechanical structures.
Originality/value
The adapted method is firstly implemented to simulate flow through tube bundles and the analyzed simulations have not previously been presented by other researches.
Keywords
Citation
Ghadiri Dehkordi, B. and Houri Jafari, H. (2009), "Numerical simulation of flow through tube bundles in in‐line square and general staggered arrangements", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 19 No. 8, pp. 1038-1062. https://doi.org/10.1108/09615530910994487
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited