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In this paper, a time-dependent natural convective heat transfer in a closed square cavity filled with non- Newtonian fluid was considered in the presence of an isothermal energy source located on the lower wall of the region under consideration. The vertical boundaries were kept at constant low temperature, while the horizontal walls were completely insulated. The behavior of a non-Newtonian fluid was described by the Ostwald de Ville power law. The process under study was described by transient partial differential equations using dimensionless non-primitive variables “stream function – vorticity – temperature”. This method allows excluding the pressure field from the number of unknown parameters, while the non-dimensionalization allows generalizing the obtained results to a variety of physical formulations. The considered mathematical model with the corresponding boundary conditions was solved on the basis of the finite difference method. The algebraic equation for the stream function was solved by the method of successive lower relaxation. Discrete analogs of the vorticity equation and energy equation were solved by the Thomas algorithm. The developed numerical algorithm was tested in detail on a class of model problems and good agreement with other authors was achieved. Also during the study, the mesh sensitivity analysis was performed that allows choosing the optimal mesh.

As a result of numerical simulation of unsteady natural convection of a non-Newtonian power-law fluid in a closed square cavity with a local isothermal energy source, the influence of governing parameters was analyzed including the impact of the Rayleigh number in the range 104–106, power-law index $n = 0.6–1.4$, and also the position of the heating element on the flow structure and heat transfer performance inside the cavity. The analysis was carried out on the basis of the obtained distributions of streamlines and isotherms in the cavity, as well as on the basis of the dependences of the average Nusselt number. As a result, it was established that pseudoplastic fluids $(n < 1)$ intensify heat removal from the heater surface. The increase in the Rayleigh number and the central location of the heating element also correspond to the effective cooling of the heat source.

One of the promising technologies for enhanced oil recovery in the development of unconventional oil reservoirs is the thermo-gas method. The method is based on the injection of an oxygen-containing mixture into the formation and its transformation into a highly efficient displacing agent miscible with the formation of oil due to spontaneous in-situ oxidative processes. In some cases, this method has great potential compared to other methods of enhanced oil recovery. This paper discusses some issues of the propagation of in-situ combustion waves. Depending on the parameters of the reservoir and the injected mixture, such waves can propagate in different modes. In this paper, only the direct-flow inverse propagation mode is considered. In this mode, the combustion wave propagates in the direction of the oxidant flow and the reaction front lags behind the heatwave, in which the substance (hydrocarbon fractions, porous skeleton, etc.) is heated to temperatures sufficient for the oxidation reaction to occur. The paper presents the results of an analytical study and numerical simulation of the structure of the inverse wave of in-situ combustion. in two-phase flow in a porous layer. Some simplifying assumptions about the thermal properties of fluid phases was accepted, which allow, on the one hand, to modify the in-situ combustion model observable for analysis, and with another is to convey the main features of this process. The solution of the “running wave” type is considered and the conditions of its implementation are specified. Selected two modes of reaction trailing front regime in-situ combustion waves: hydrodynamic and kinetic. Numerical simulation of the in-situ combustion wave propagation was carried out with using the thermohydrodynamical simulator developed for the numerical integration of non-isothermal multicomponent filtration flows accompanied by phase transitions and chemical reaction.

This work presents the model of heat wall functions FlowVision (WFFV), which allows simulation of nonisothermal flows of fluid and gas near solid surfaces on relatively coarse grids with use of turbulence models. The work follows the research on the development of wall functions applicable in wide range of the values of quantity y+. Model WFFV assumes smooth profiles of the tangential component of velocity, turbulent viscosity, temperature, and turbulent heat conductivity near a solid surface. Possibility of using a simple algebraic model for calculation of variable turbulent Prandtl number is investigated in this study (the turbulent Prandtl number enters model WFFV as parameter). The results are satisfactory. The details of implementation of model WFFV in the FlowVision software are explained. In particular, the boundary condition for the energy equation used in high-Reynolds number calculations of non-isothermal flows is considered. The boundary condition is deduced for the energy equation written via thermodynamic enthalpy and via full enthalpy. The capability of the model is demonstrated on two test problems: flow of incompressible fluid past a plate and supersonic flow of gas past a plate (M = 3).

Analysis of literature shows that there exists essential ambiguity in experimental data and, as a consequence, in empirical correlations for the Stanton number (that being a dimensionless heat flux). The calculations suggest that the default values of the model parameters, automatically specified in the program, allow calculations of heat fluxes at extended solid surfaces with engineering accuracy. At the same time, it is obvious that one cannot invent universal wall functions. For this reason, the controls of model WFFV are made accessible from the FlowVision interface. When it is necessary, a user can tune the model for simulation of the required type of flow.

The proposed model of wall functions is compatible with all the turbulence models implemented in the FlowVision software: the algebraic model of Smagorinsky, the Spalart-Allmaras model, the SST $k-\omega$ model, the standard $k-\varepsilon$ model, the $k-\varepsilon$ model of Abe, Kondoh, Nagano, the quadratic $k-\varepsilon$ model, and $k-\varepsilon$ model FlowVision.

Numerical investigation of mixing non-isothermal streams of sodium coolant in a T-branch is carried out in the FlowVision CFD software. This study is aimed at argumentation of applicability of different approaches to prediction of oscillating behavior of the flow in the mixing zone and simulation of temperature pulsations. The following approaches are considered: URANS (Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokers), LES (Large Eddy Simulation) and quasi-DNS (Direct Numerical Simulation). One of the main tasks of the work is detection of the advantages and drawbacks of the aforementioned approaches.

Numerical investigation of temperature pulsations, arising in the liquid and T-branch walls from the mixing of non-isothermal streams of sodium coolant was carried out within a mathematical model assuming that the flow is turbulent, the fluid density does not depend on pressure, and that heat exchange proceeds between the coolant and T-branch walls. Model LMS designed for modeling turbulent heat transfer was used in the calculations within URANS approach. The model allows calculation of the Prandtl number distribution over the computational domain.

Preliminary study was dedicated to estimation of the influence of computational grid on the development of oscillating flow and character of temperature pulsation within the aforementioned approaches. The study resulted in formulation of criteria for grid generation for each approach.

Then, calculations of three flow regimes have been carried out. The regimes differ by the ratios of the sodium mass flow rates and temperatures at the T-branch inlets. Each regime was calculated with use of the URANS, LES and quasi-DNS approaches.

At the final stage of the work analytical comparison of numerical and experimental data was performed. Advantages and drawbacks of each approach to simulation of mixing non-isothermal streams of sodium coolant in the T-branch are revealed and formulated.

It is shown that the URANS approach predicts the mean temperature distribution with a reasonable accuracy. It requires essentially less computational and time resources compared to the LES and DNS approaches. The drawback of this approach is that it does not reproduce pulsations of velocity, pressure and temperature.

The LES and DNS approaches also predict the mean temperature with a reasonable accuracy. They provide oscillating solutions. The obtained amplitudes of the temperature pulsations exceed the experimental ones. The spectral power densities in the check points inside the sodium flow agree well with the experimental data. However, the expenses of the computational and time resources essentially exceed those for the URANS approach in the performed numerical experiments: 350 times for LES and 1500 times for ·DNS.

Represented study considers numerical simulation of corium cooling driven by natural convection within a horizontal hemicylindrical cavity, boundaries of which are assumed isothermal. Corium is a melt of ceramic fuel of a nuclear reactor and oxides of construction materials.

Corium cooling is a process occurring during severe accident associated with core melt. According to invessel retention conception, the accident may be restrained and localized, if the corium is contained within the vessel, only if it is cooled externally. This conception has a clear advantage over the melt trap, it can be implemented at already operating nuclear power plants. Thereby proper numerical analysis of the corium cooling has become such a relevant area of studies.

In the research, we assume the corium is contained within a horizontal semitube. The corium initially has temperature of the walls. In spite of reactor shutdown, the corium still generates heat owing to radioactive decays, and the amount of heat released decreases with time accordingly to Way–Wigner formula. The system of equations in Boussinesq approximation including momentum equation, continuity equation and energy equation, describes the natural convection within the cavity. Convective flows are taken to be laminar and two-dimensional.

The boundary-value problem of mathematical physics is formulated using the non-dimensional nonprimitive variables «stream function – vorticity». The obtained differential equations are solved numerically using the finite difference method and locally one-dimensional Samarskii scheme for the equations of parabolic type.

As a result of the present research, we have obtained the time behavior of mean Nusselt number at top and bottom walls for Rayleigh number ranged from 10³ to 10⁶. These mentioned dependences have been analyzed for various dimensionless operation periods before the accident. Investigations have been performed using streamlines and isotherms as well as time dependences for convective flow and heat transfer rates.