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Simulating Supercritical Water Jets with a Variable Turbulent Prandtl Number
Author(s) -
Schuler Martin J.,
Rothenfluh Tobias,
Stathopoulos Panagiotis,
Brkic Dragana,
Meier Thierry,
Rudolf von Rohr Philipp
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.201300661
Subject(s) - supercritical fluid , prandtl number , turbulence , mechanics , thermal , piping , materials science , nozzle , jet (fluid) , thermodynamics , petroleum engineering , convection , physics , geology
Supercritical water jets are of interest for the hydrothermal spallation drilling technology to thermally fragment rock. The important thermal field of such jets was investigated via axial temperature measurements inside a high‐pressure vessel simulating the harsh pressure and temperature conditions found downhole. Deionized water was electrically preheated to supercritical temperatures and afterwards discharged into a slowly co‐flowing cooling water ring. Furthermore, a numerical model was developed and applied. Difficulties in simulating the thermal field due to the strongly varying fluid properties around the pseudo‐critical point of water were highlighted and critically discussed. An approach of a locally varying turbulent Prandtl number is introduced to improve the predictions compared to the experiment. Finally, all numerical results were validated with experimental data.