ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Dec 2024
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
December 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
November 2024
Latest News
Site acquired for GLE laser enrichment plant
Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) has acquired a 665-acre parcel of land for its planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) in Kentucky.
Satish Kumar Dhurandhar, S. L. Sinha, Shashi Kant Verma
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 196 | Number 5 | May 2022 | Pages 600-613
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2021.2003650
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the nuclear fuel structure, most spacers are constructed with vanes that increase turbulence flow mixing downstream of the spacer and therefore enhance the heat transfer rate. The objective of this work is numerical evaluation of the effects of a spacer without a vane and a spacer with a vane (hereinafter referred to as spacer/spacer with vane) on the flow and heat transfer of water at supercritical pressure downstream to the spacer of the annular channel. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of the annular channel have been developed considering spacer/spacer with vane. Experimental data for the heated annular channel have been used to validate the same CFD model (as the geometry used for the experiment) using the CFD code ANSYS Fluent. The CFD results show good agreement with the experimental data used, and hence, the developed CFD models of the annular channel that consider spacer/spacer with vane can be simulated with adequate precision for the flow and heat transfer downstream to the spacer. The effects of spacer/spacer with vane on heat transfer and flow behavior of water have been studied with numerical simulations for the following parameters: mass fluxes of 500 and 1000 kg/m2·s, heat flux of 400 kW/m2, pressure of 25 MPa, and inlet water temperature of 350°C. The results obtained through the simulations show that the spacer with vane has a remarkable influence on flow and heat transfer downstream to the spacer vane against spacer without a vane in an annular channel. Raising the flow velocity is an effective approach to reduce wall temperature and enhance the heat transfer in the channel. The range of the spacer effect in the enhancement of heat transfer is observed from X/D = 0 to 45 in the downstream direction. In addition, the simulation results for the Nusselt number ratio of the present CFD models have been compared with correlation data established by several researchers in a downstream direction to the spacer/spacer with vane, and qualitatively proper agreement has been found.