Computational investigation into heat transfer coefficients of randomly packed pebbles in flowing FLiBe

Using CFD simulations, this study presents: (1) LES and RANS comparisons for a unit cell geometry of heat transferring pebbles in flowing FLiBe; (2) statistical distributions of pebble heat transfer coefficients due to the random packing; (3) development of a heat transfer coefficient correlation for randomly-packed heat transferring pebbles in flowing FLiBe in the representative Fluoride High-temperature Reactor (FHR) operating condition; and (4) comparison of the developed heat transfer coefficient correlation with existing ones obtained in different fluids and pebble sizes. The LES and RANS comparison has shown that the k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) with low Reynolds number approach performance gives the best result in comparison to the two eddy-viscosity based k-ε and k-ω SST models. The statistical distribution of pebble heat transfer coefficients due to random packing has been quantified; random arrangements of pebbles result in non-negligible uncertainties in heat transfer coefficients following normal distributions. This uncertainty needs to be accounted for fuel temperature prediction in reactor design and analyses. A Nusselt number correlation for the randomly packed heat transferring pebble in flowing FLiBe has been computationally developed: Nu = 0.016Re^0.72Pr^0.31.