Convective heat transfer from in-tube flow of turbulent supercritical carbon dioxide: Part 1 - Numerical analysis

A mathematical model to simulate the turbulent flow of supercritical carbon dioxide during in-tube cooling is presented. The model is based on the Favre-averaged, parabolized Navier-Stokes equations and an appropriate turbulence model. Accurate thermophysical property data for supercritical carbon dioxide are used as input. The model is used to predict the variations of the heat transfer coefficient along the length of the tube. It is found that the heat transfer coefficient displays a maximum at some location downstream of the inlet. The model results are used to provide an explanation for the unusual behavior of the heat transfer coefficient and to gain insights on in-tube cooling of supercritical carbon dioxide.