Assessment of horizontal in-tube condensation models using MARS code. Part I: Stratified flow condensation

The accurate prediction of the horizontal in-tube condensation heat transfer is a primary concern in the optimum design and safety analysis of horizontal heat exchangers of passive safety systems such as the passive containment cooling system (PCCS), the emergency condenser system (ECS) and the passive auxiliary feed-water system (PAFS). It is essential to analyze and assess the predictive capability of the previous horizontal in-tube condensation models for each flow regime using various experimental data. This study assessed totally 11 condensation models for the stratified flow, one of the main flow regime encountered in the horizontal condenser, with the heat transfer data from the Purdue-PCCS experiment using the multi-dimensional analysis of reactor safety (MARS) code. From the assessments, it was found that the models by Akers and Rosson, Chato, Tandon et al., Sweeney and Chato, and Cavallini et al. (2002) under-predicted the data in the main condensation heat transfer region, on the contrary to this, the models by Rosson and Meyers, Jaster and Kosky, Fujii, Dobson and Chato, and Thome et al. similarly- or over-predicted the data, and especially, Cavallini et al. (2006) model shows good predictive capability for all test conditions. The results of this study can be used importantly to improve the condensation models in thermal hydraulic code, such as RELAP5 or MARS code.