Local heat transfer and hot-spot factors in wire-wrap tube bundle

Heat transfer coefficients and hot-spot factors have been determined from measured local temperatures and calculated local mass flux in seven adjacent tubes and associated subchannels of a 61 wire-wrap tube bundle characteristic of the blanket of a GCFR (Gas Cooled Fast Reactor). The bundle consisted of 2.11 cm OD stainless steel tubes on a triangular array with a pitch/diameter ratio of P/ D = 1.05. The helical wire of 0.1067 cm in diameter was coiled on the tube with a respective initial orientation of 0–120–240°C and 30.48 cm helical pitch. The experiment used water at atmospheric pressure and temperature as coolant. The resulting dimensionless correlation for heat transfer is applicable to gases and all non-metal fluids in one phase flow when the fluid properties at subchannel bulk temperature are used. This correlation is based on local subchannel mass flux and is applicable to all wire-wrap configurations. Local subchannel mass fluxes were determined with a computer program COBRA IV and used to correlate the average Nusselt number for each subchannel in terms of local Reynolds number and fluid Prandtl number. The differences of up to 19% between that correlation and the one presented in earlier work are discussed in the text. The hot-spot factors on the convective heat transfer coefficient for tubes and subchannels are given as a function of Reynolds number based on a bundle average mass flux and a local subchannel hydraulic diameter. These factors are specific to the bundle configuration and are also dependent on the wire-wrap configuration.