Three-Dimensional, Numerical Investigation of Flow and Heat Transfer in Rectangular Channels Subject to Partial Blockage

Numerical simulation of flow and heat transfer in two adjacent channels is conducted with one of the channels partially blocked. This system simulates typical channels of a material testing reactor. The blockage is assumed due to the buckling of one of the channel plates inward along its width. The blockage ratio considered in this work is defined as the ratio between the cross-sectional area of the blocked and the unblocked channel. In this work, we consider a blockage ratio of approximately 40%. However, the blockage is different along the width of the channel, ranging from 0% at the end of the channel to 90% in the middle. The channel walls are sandwiching volumetric heat sources that vary spatially as chopped cosine functions. Interesting patterns are highlighted and investigated. The reduction in the flow area of one channel results in the flow redistributing among the two channels according to the changes in their hydraulic conductivities. The results of the numerical simulations show that the maximum wall temperature in the blocked channel is well below the boiling temperature at the operating pressure.