Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

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Progress in Nuclear Energy

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pnucene

Investigation of a nanofluid-based natural circulation loop

Z. Ghorbanali, S. Talebi *
Department of Energy Engineering and Physics, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), 424 Hafez Avenue, P.O. Box 15875-4413, Tehran, Iran

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The Natural Circulation Loop (NCL) has many applications in nuclear and renewable energy systems including
Nanofluid solar heaters and geothermal power derivation. Applying nanofluids in NCL has distinctive advantageous,
Natural circulation including higher stability and effectiveness of NCL. The present study is a numerical investigation of a rectan­
Single-phase
gular single-phase natural circulation loop utilizing Water, water-based Al2O3, and TiO2 nanofluids as working
Stability analysis
fluids. Both steady-state and transient simulations are in good agreement with experimental data. The effects of
heating power and nanoparticle concentration on the stability and flow transitions were investigated in this
study. Flow rate and heat transfer capacity enhancement were significantly observed by applying nanofluids in
NCL compared to Water. The comparison of effectiveness factor, temperature difference over heater, and mass
flow rate of NCL utilize different working fluids, revealed thermal performance improvement by particle con­
centration increment, and this is more considerable for the nanofluids containing bigger particle size.

prevented by their potential threat of flow instabilities.

1. Introduction
The natural circulation loop is a system for transferring heat from a
high-temperature source to a low-temperature sink without the
deployment of any external motive force or mechanical device. The
natural convection phenomena create buoyancy forces to drive the flow
in a closed or open pipe system. The heat sink is located at a higher
elevation regarding the heat source to enhance the circulation rates.
Although natural circulation has nature suitability for different heat
removal systems due to the its design simplicity, elimination of main­
taining difficulties related to pumps, yields reliability, noise-free, uni­
form flow distribution, and cost reduction. The applications of NCL are
expanded in many renewable energy systems including solar heaters,
gas turbine blade cooling, nuclear power plants, electrical machine rotor
cooling, geothermal power extraction, electronic device cooling, and as
an emergency core cooling system in nuclear reactors (Nayak et al.,
2009; Goudarzi and Talebi, 2015a; Thalange et al., 2018).
The working fluid is continuously circulating through a closed-loop
with periodic heating and cooling. The closed loop is made of an adia­
batic tube of capillary dimensions and joined end to end. It is gradually
filled with the working fluid in following of initial vacuuming, which
makes natural distribution of fluid.
Deploying of natural circulation can be extended if its specific
challenges, including low driving force, low mass flux, and instability
effects are successfully resolved. Mainly, wide applications of NCL are
Vijayan et al. (2008) studied the loop diameter effect on the stability
behavior of NCL. The instability is found to decrease with increasing
loop diameter in single-phase. Unlike to single-phase NCLs, the stability
of two-phase NCLs was enhanced by loop diameter enhancement.
Vijayan and Sharma (2006) investigated the effect of flow direction on
the stability of NCLs in single-phase. They studied this matter in a
rectangular loop equipped by horizontal heater and vertical tube type
cooler experimentally and also analytically. They investigated both
clockwise and anticlockwise circulation in a steady-state analysis. Basu
et al. (2008) considered two NCL shapes: rectangular and toroidal in
both steady-state and transient conditions to make a comparison. The
rectangular loop equipped by the bottom heater and top cooler, was less
stable in comparison to the same toroidal loop. Chen (1985) investigated
the stability of a rectangular loop with changing the aspect ratio
(height/width). The entire bottom and top horizontal pipes was heated
and cooled in his studied loop, respectively. He concluded that the loop
comes across unstable condition as the aspect ratio approached unity.
Goudarzi and Talebi (2015b) modeled a single-phase NCL numerically
to find out the effect of another geometrical ratio on instability. They
concluded that increasing the value of total length/diameter would
cause instability at higher Grashof numbers. They also claimed that the
value of this ratio does not affect considerably the stability boundaries of
the system. Misale et al. (2007) experimentally studied the stability of a
rectangular single-phase natural circulation mini loop as a function of
inclination of the loop. They resulted that only loop inclination of 75◦

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sa.talebi@aut.ac.ir (S. Talebi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2020.103494
Received 22 October 2019; Received in revised form 12 August 2020; Accepted 27 August 2020
Available online 15 September 2020
0149-1970/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

Nomenclature s Axial location

t Time
A Flow area T Temperature
a Constant in Eq. (9) tfinal Final time
b Constant in Eq. (9) Ts Facial cooler temperature
Cp Specific heat U Overall heat transfer coefficient
D Loop inner diameter v Calculated velocity
dbf Base fluid molecule size V Fluid velocity
Dh Hydraulic diameter X Dynamic quality
dp Average particle size ΔTh Temperature difference across the heater
f Fanning friction factor ΔThc Temperature difference across the cooler inlet and the
g Gravitational acceleration heater outlet
G Mass flux
h Convection heat transfer coefficient Greek symbols
H Loop height α thermal diffusivity
Hfg Latent heat β Thermal expansion coefficient
Hi Inlet subcooling enthalpy ε Effectiveness factor
k Thermal conductivity Φ Volume fraction of nanoparticles
K Resistance coefficient θ Angle of inclination
L Length of pipes μ Dynamic viscosity
Le Equivalent length ρ Fluid density
Lh Heater length σ Surface tension
Lt Total length of loop τω Shear stress
m Number of iterations ∇ Gradient operator
ṁ Mass flow rate Subscripts and superscripts
n Number of nodes bf Base fluid
Nu Dimensionless Nusselt number i Nodes number
p Flow perimeter j Time step
P Pressure nf Nanofluids
q Heat flux supplied in heater np Nanoparticles
Q Imported or extracted heat op Operational
qc Critical heat flux v Volumetric
qc0 Basic critical heat flux
Re Dimensionless Reynolds number

affects the temperature of the fluid. This study revealed that the tem­
perature changes are negligible for a vertical loop and loop inclination of
30◦ as it was observed for large-scale NCLs. In another similar research
on two-phase thermosyphon solar water heater, Chien et al. (2011)
investigated the performance of this device both experimentally and
theoretically. They claimed that the tilt angle of the system could not
improve charge efficiency by more than 5%, however adding nano­
particles to working fluid increases the charge heat of the solar water
heater by 4%. Misale et al. (Misale and Frogheri, 2001) investigated the
effect of orifices on the stability of the system. They found pressure drops
in smaller diameter orifices only would stabilize. Bodkha et al. (2010)
investigated the stability response by unifying mechanical gadgets,
which were designed specially and improving axial diffusion. They
found that the instability threshold is improved by all gadgets during
cold start-ups. Particularly power growth made significant decrement in
steady-state flow rate, and was monitored to be about 10–30% for some
of the gadgets. The relative location of the heating and cooling sections
effect on the stability of rectangular NCL was surveyed by Vijayan et al.
(2007) in a comprehensive experimental study. They concluded that
vertical heating section improves the stability more than horizontal one.
In addition, their results revealed the most stable NCL constructed by
vertical heater and cooler, while horizontal heater–cooler orientation
makes least stable NCLs. The fluid in a loop with a horizontal heater flew
significantly later by applying the power. Mousavian et al. (2004)
accomplished a numerical study on a single-phase NCL to find out its
transient and nonlinear stability. They used the perturbation method
and RELAP5 code with help of the one-dimensional finite difference
method and linear analysis. A stability map was achieved scaling values
of the modified Stanton number and Grashof number as a result. Rao
et al. (2013) investigated the effect of the wall thermal inertia of the
heater section in a rectangular NCL through a numerical approach. They
concluded that the thermal capacity of piping material effects signifi­
cantly on the stable zone of NCL.
The instabilities may be suppressed by considering some local losses,
which are results of adding orifices, however; these devices significantly
make flow reduction, which causes decrease in the natural circulation
heat removal capability. Recently, the effect of a new family of fluids
called “nanofluids” is being studied intensively. Argonne National Lab­
oratories give the nanofluid name to describe a fluid with nanoparticles
are solute in (Yu et al., 2007). The thermal conductivity and convective
heat transfer performance of the base liquid is increased by adding
nanoparticles. Researches proved that with applying nanofluids as
working fluid in NCL, not only the flow instabilities are annihilated, but
also the natural circulation flow rate is increased. In particular, a small
amount of nanoparticles (less than 1% volume fraction), with a typical
length scale of 1–100 nm, can make the thermal conductivity of the
nanofluid double (Putra et al., 2003; Kang et al., 2006). As well, the
viscosity of the nanofluid increases as a function of nanoparticle con­
centration growth (Masuda et al., 1993; Pak and Cho, 1998). Davarnejad
et al. (2013) numerically investigated the effect of nanoparticle size on
the thermal performance of the systems. This study demonstrated
nanoparticle size decrement improves the heat transfer performance.
Nayak et al. (2008) investigated Al2O3 nanofluid in a large-scale sin­
gle-phase NCL as a working fluid. This research revealed both stabili­
zation of the thermo-hydraulic behavior and the flow rate in stable
condition are increased as a result. They also studied the effect of

2
Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi
different concentration and particle sizes of three metallic oxide nano­
fluids (Al2O3, CuO, and TiO2) in same previous experimental setup
(Nayak et al., 2009). They found out higher effectiveness growth of TiO2
and Al2O3 nanofluids for all power ranges, since the flow rate increases
consistently. He et al. (2007) also studied a NCL behavior filled by TiO2
nanofluid with different particle sizes and concentrations. Same as
previous, this survey resulted in convective heat transfer coefficient
growth by increasing nanoparticle concentration. They also found more
significant heat transfer improvement for the turbulent flow regime. The
effect of applying nanofluids on the thermo-hydraulic performance of a
single-phase natural circulation mini loop was investigated by Misale
et al. (2012). Only a slight performance improvement at loop inclination
of 75◦ was found out by applying nanofluids as working fluid. Sajadi and
Kazemi (2011) investigated an increase of about 22% in the heat transfer
coefficient at a Reynolds number of 5000 for 0.25% volume fraction of
TiO2 in comparison with pure Water.
Based on the mentioned discussions, now we know that using
nanofluid as the working fluid could lead to improvements in heat
transfer efficiency and stability increasing. Higher critical heat flux,
accelerating quenching and wettability growth are other considerable
nanofluid properties, which make them as the best fluid for some spe­
cific applications (Barber et al., 2011; Ciloglu and Bolukbasi, 2011). In
the present paper, we aim to numerically study the efficacy of the Al2O2
and TiO2 nanofluid as the working fluid in NCL with a heat sink and
source, which has not been examined previously. To this end, stability
and thermal performances of a rectangular NCL as schematically illus­
trated in Fig. 1, are numerically investigated. A fully implicit technique
is applied to solve the discretized transient equations numerically. All
data are compared with the Nayak’s experimental results for nanofluids.
Natural circulation stability analysis was performed in (Goudarzi and
Talebi, 2015a, 2015b) and it was not repeated again. Thus, a very brief
description of the stability is represented in this paper.
2. Simulation model
2.1. System description and assumptions
A vertical rectangular loop with circular pipes (Fig. 1) is the thermal-
Fig. 1. Schematic view of rectangular NCL under consideration.
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Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494
hydraulic system that is analyzed in this work. A heat source is impro­
vised in the bottom of the cycle and is treated as a heat flux source, q;
heating is provided in constant heat flux mode to the bottom horizontal
arm, while it is studied as a variable amount on the system stability. A
cooling section is localized on top of the cycle. It is a constant wall
temperature (Tc) heat exchanger and is expected to be the lowest tem­
perature in the system. Tc is also considered as a variable parameter for
studying stability. Heater, cooler, and vertical tubes are thoroughly
insulated. The studied apparatus is exactly what Nayak et al. (2008)
applied to observe the effectiveness of Al2O3 nanofluid experimentally
on NCL due to comparing our results with their experimental data.
2.2. Governing equations
2.2.1. Continuity equation
Eq. (1) shows three-dimensional continuity Equation in Cartesian
coordinates:
∂ρ ∂ ∂( ) ∂
+ (ρVx ) + ρVy + (ρVz ) = 0 (1)
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z
where ρ is the density of fluid, Vx, Vy, and Vz are velocities in three di­
mensions of fluid movement, x, y, and z are axial orientations, and t is
time.
Fluid velocities are unknown in Eq. (1), so momentum equation is
applied, and both equations must be solved simultaneously to find them
out.
By integrating the continuity equation over the channel cross-section
and also considering Boussinesq approximation for fluid density, the one
dimensional Navier-Stokes equation can be obtained as follow:
dV
=0 (2)
ds
where s is the perpendicular direction to the considered cross-section.
2.2.2. Momentum equation
Eqs. (3)–(5) describe momentum equation in Cartesian coordinates
for three orientations, x, y, and z, respectively:
Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

Table 1
Fanning friction factor and Nusselt number correlations (Abraham et al., 2011).
Type of fluid flow Reynolds number ranges Fanning friction factor, Correlation No. Nusselt number, Correlation No.

Laminar Re < 2300 16 Nu = 3.66 (21)

f= (18)
Re

Transient 2300 < Re < 4500 f = 3.03 × 10− 12

Re3 − 3.67 × 10− 8 Re2 + 1.46 × 10− 4 Re − 0.151 (19)
( )
f
Pr(Re − 1000)
8
Nu = (22)
Turbulent Re > 4500 1 + 12.7(f /8)1/2 (Pr2/3 − 1)
f = (0.79 ln Re − 1.64)− 2
(20)

Table 2
The selected models for predicting of thermos-physical properties of nanofluids.
Thermos- Model Correlation, Correlation no. Remarks
physical
property

Density Pak and Choon (Pak and Cho, ρnf = (1 − φ)ρbf + φρnp (23) Valid for up to 4.5% Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids volume
1998) concentration.

Specific heat Pak and Choon (Pak and Cho, ( ) ( ) Acceptable for both Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids.
( ) (1 − φ) ρCp bf + φ ρCp np
capacity 1998) Cp = (24)
nf ρnf

Viscosity Pak and Choon (Pak and Cho, ( ) Valid for Al2O3+water nanofluid.
μnf = μbf 1 + 39.11φ + 533.9φ2 (25)
1998)

( ) Valid for TiO2+water nanofluid.

μnf = μbf 1 + 5.45φ + 108.2φ2 (26)

Thermal Wasp FJ. (Wasp et al., 1977) ( (

knp + 2kbf − 2φ kbf − knp
)) Valid for both Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids.
conductivity knf = kbf ( ) (27)
knp + 2kbf + φ kbf − knp

Expansion Khanafer et al. (Khanafer et al., ( ) Valid for both Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids.
1 − φnp (ρβ)bf + φnp (ρβ)np
coefficient 2003) βnf = (28)
ρnf

Surface tension Chinnam et al. (Chinnam et al., ( ( )

dp
) Valid for both Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids.
2015) σnf = σbf − 1.02219φ + 0.00063558 + 1.17344 (29)
dbf

∂(ρVx ) ∂(ρVx ) ∂(ρVx ) ∂(ρVx ) ∂τxx ∂τyx ∂τzx ∂P

+ Ux + Vy + Vz + + + + − ρgx = 0
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x Table 3
(3) Physical characteristic of metal oxides nanofluids and Water (Khanafer and
Vafai, 2011; Nogi et al., 2012; Velagapudi et al., 2008; Material Science | News
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
∂ ρ Vy ∂ ρ Vy ∂ ρ Vy ∂ ρVy ∂τxy ∂τyy ∂τzy ∂P |).
+Vx + Vy + Vz + + + + − ρg y = 0
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂y Particle dp/ ρ/(kg/ Cp/(J/ k/(W/ μ/(Pa. σ/(N/ β×
(4) and base nm m3) kg K) m k) s) m) 10− 4/
fluid (K− 1)

∂(ρVz ) ∂(ρVz ) ∂(ρVz ) ∂(ρVz ) ∂τxz ∂τyz ∂τzz ∂P Al2O3 30 3970 765 40 0.084
+Vx + Vy + Vz + + + + − ρg z = 0 TiO2 10 4250 686.2 8.9538 0.118
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂z
Water 997.1 4179 0.605 0.001 0.072 2.1
(5)

where P is hydrostatic pressure, τxx .τyy .τzz are vertical stresses and cross-section, gravitational acceleration in the vertical orientation and
τxy or τyx .τzy or τyz .τzx or τxz are shear stresses, gx, gy and gz are also the angle of inclination (between g and movement vector, s), respec­
orientation gravitational acceleration with respect to the chosen set of tively. Eq. (7) also represents a relationship between shear stress and
coordinates. The one-dimensional version of the Navier-Stokes equation fluid velocity (Zohuri, 2015):
for incompressible fluid by integration in a cross-section of the pipe and
applying the continuity equation can be expressed as: 1
τω = f ρ0 V|V| (7)
2
dV dP τω
ρ = ρg cos(θ) − − 2 (6)
dt ds R where f is Fanning friction factor and relates to the Reynolds number
(Eq. (8)) whether fully developed flow conditions lead to laminar,
where τω , g, and θ are shear stress in the perpendicular direction to the transient, or turbulent flow:

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Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

Fig. 2. (a) Variation of specific heat capacity; (b) Variation of density; (c) Variation of viscosity; (d) Variation of thermal expansion coefficient; (e) Variation of
thermal conductivity; (f) Variation of surface tension of Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids.

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Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

Table 4
Arrays of matrixes of A and B in steady-state solution according to Eq. (35) – (37).
The movement direction Heater Cooler All sections except heater and cooler
( ) ( ) ( )
Arrays of matrix of A V>0 ρ Cp V k ρ Cp V k ρ Cp V k
ai.i− 1 = − + 2 ai.i− 1 = − + 2 ai.i− 1 = − + 2
Δs Δs Δs Δs Δs Δs
ρCp V 2k ρCp V 2k 4h ρCp V 2k
ai.i = + 2 ai.i = + 2+ ai.i = + 2
Δs Δs Δs Δs D Δs Δs
k k k
ai.i+1 = − ai.i+1 = − ai.i+1 = −
Δs2 Δs2 Δs2
V<0 k k k
ai.i− 1 = − ai.i− 1 = − ai.i− 1 = −
Δs2 Δs2 Δs2
ρCp V 2k ρCp V 2k 4h ρCp V 2k
ai.i = − + 2 ai.i = − + 2+ ai.i = − + 2
Δs Δs Δs Δs D Δs Δs
ρCp V k ρCp V k ρCp V k
ai.i+1 = − ai.i+1 = − ai.i+1 = −
Δs Δs2 Δs Δs2 Δs Δs2
Arrays of matrix of B Not matter 4q 4hTs bi = 0
bi = bi =
D D

ρ0 VD
Re = (8)
μ where Cp is specific heat of the fluid and Q is Imported or extracted heat,
kx, ky, and kz are also fluid thermal conductivity in three dimensions.
This factor generally can be expressed in the form of following
This one also must be written under the assumptions of this research,
equation (Eq. (9)), but Table 1 represents different types of fluid flow
where Eq. (13) demonstrates one-dimensional energy equation for
and the Fanning friction factor equations for each one (Abraham et al.,
incompressible flow with constant fluid specific heat and thermal
2011).
conductivity:
a aμb
f= = (9) dT dT d2 T
Reb ρb0 V b Db ρC p + ρCp V = k 2 + Qv (13)
dt ds ds
where a and b are velocity independent in this equation and depend on where T and k are temperature and thermal conductivity in fluid
flow type and working fluid specifications. movement direction, respectively.
Boussinesq approximation ignores density differences except where The input/output heat is characterized in two classes: constant heat
it appears in term multiplied by g: flux and constant wall temperature. In this research work, the heater is
1 dρ considered in constant heat flux, unlike the cooler section, which is
ρ(T) = ρ0 (1 − β(T − T0 )). β = (10) defined with constant wall temperature. The final energy equations for
ρ dT
heating and cooling sections and isolated sections of the loop are
where β is demonstrated the average value of thermal expansion coef­ demonstrated in Eqs. (14)–(16) respectively:
ficient for all points, and ρ0 is fluid density at the beginning.
dT dT d2 T 4q
The curve sections in place of joining two pipes also apply local ρC p + ρCp V =k 2 + ( for heater) (14)
dt ds ds D
frictions, which also must be considered in the momentum equation. By
applying all of these considerations and integration on momentum dT dT d2 T 4h(T − Ts )
equation in the length of the flow path, we have: ρC p + ρCp V =k 2 − ( for cooler) (15)
dt ds ds D
⎛ ⎞
∫ ∫
dV ⎜ ⎟ 2aμb ρ V|V|L dT dT d2 T
ρ0 L = ρ0 gβ⎝ Tds − Tds⎠ − b− 1 b− 1 b+1 |V|L − K 0 ρC p + ρCp V =k 2 ( for all sections except heater and cooler)
dt ρ0 V D 2 dt ds ds
hot leg cold leg (16)
(11)
where h is the convection heat transfer coefficient and calculated as:
As started and terminated point on the integrals are the same, the
integral on pressure equal to zero and would be omitted. Nu =
hD
⇒h =
Nuk
(17)
Where L and K are the lengths of straight pipes and resistance coef­ k D
ficient of curves and fitting sections, respectively. The value of K rep­ The Nu correlations are also provided in Table 1 for different forms of
resented in different tables depends on the pipe material, fitting size, flow, since it depends on the type of fluid flow in the pipe.
flow regime (i.e., Reynolds Number), and the roughness of the fitting
itself (Lamarsh, 1966). In the following, we show fluid density at the 3. Properties of nanofluids
beginning with ρ to simplify the equations.
Presently, there are some reliable theories to predict the properties of
2.2.3. Energy equation nanofluids, including density, specific heat capacity, viscosity, thermal
Last governing equation in this system is the energy equation which conductivity, and expansion coefficient. As previous experimental
is expressed three-dimensionally as:

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
∂ ρC p T ∂ ρC p T ∂ ρC p T ∂ ρC p T ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T
+ Vx + Vy + Vz = k + k + k + Qv (12)
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x x ∂x ∂y y ∂y ∂z z ∂z

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Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

investigations reveal, the thermos-physical properties of nanofluids are

as a function of the thermos-physical properties of base fluid and
nanoparticles, volume fraction, surface area, the shape of nanoparticles
and temperature. To predict the thermos-physical properties of nano­
fluids, several theoretical and empirical models have been proposed.
Table 2 contains selected models that show the best fitting according to
experiments. For some of the properties, the models for TiO2 and Al2O3
nanofluids are the same, while for others, they differ.
In this study, Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids with 1%, 2%, and 4% vol­
ume fraction have been modeled in the NCL, and the thermal-hydraulic
parameters are calculated. The physical and thermal properties of this
nanoparticle and base fluid are shown in Table 3 (Khanafer and Vafai,
2011; Nogi et al., 2012; Velagapudi et al., 2008; Material Science | News
|).
Eqs. 23–29 takes care of nanoparticle concentration for both nano­
fluids. The comparison between these nanofluid correlations gives their
changes with concentration, as shown in Fig. 2.

4. Numerical method

Since the fluid movement direction is significant in our solution, the

upwind scheme has to be considered in writing finite difference equa­
tions. In order to discretize the energy equations, the compact forms of
upwind schemes for first and second-order derivation are mentioned
respectively in Eqs. (30) and (31):
dT Ti − Ti−
(30–1)
1
for V ≥ 0 : =
ds Δs

dT Ti+1 − Ti
for V < 0 : = (30–2)
ds Δs

d2 T Ti − 2Ti− 1 − Ti−
(31–1)
2
for V ≥ 0 : =
ds2 Δs2

d2 T Ti+1 − 2Ti+1 − Ti
for V < 0 : = (31–2)
ds2 Δs2
The fully implicit solution is applied to result of convergent data in
any condition and iteration-free. By finding the matrix of T in Eq. (32),
we can reach to temperature at any point in the loop.
A×T = B (32)
The matrixes of A and B is defined differently in steady-state and
transient solution. As the general form of the matrixes of A, B and T are
as:
⎡ a11 a12 ⋯ a1(n− 1) a1n ⎤
⎢ a21 a22 ⋯ a2(n− 1) a2n ⎥
⎢ ⎥
A=⎢ ⋮ ⋱ ⋱ ⋱ ⋮ ⎥
⎣ ⋯ a(n− 1)(n− 1) a(n− ⎦
a(n− 1)1 a(n− 1)2 1)n
an1 an2 ⋯ an(n− 1) ann
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
b1 T1
⎢ b2 ⎥ ⎢ T2 ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
B=⎢ ⋮ ⎥T = ⎢ ⋮ ⎥
⎣b ⎦ ⎣T ⎦
n− 1 n− 1
bn Tn

4.1. Steady-state solution

The steady-state solution of governing equations is the primary in­

Fig. 3. Simulation algorithm for steady-state solution.
terest in this work. Eqs. (33) and (34) demonstrate the steady-state
discretized forms of continuity and velocity equations respectively and
also Eqs. 35–37 represent energy equation steadily for the heater, cooler,
and other sections of the cycle respectively:
Vi+1 = Vi = V (33)

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Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

( )
|V|
(
2aμb L
) (
K ρ0 L
) ∑ ∑ those equations in transient mode by considering the answers of the
b− 1
+ V|V| = ρ0 gβΔs Ti − Ti (34) steady-state solution as initial amounts (first guess) of transient solution.
V b− 1 ρ0 Db+1 2
In this step, the upwind scheme must also be considered for solving finite
hot leg cold leg

For heater: difference equations. The fully implicit method is applied to these
( ( ) ( ) ) equations. Eqs. (38)–(42) demonstrate the transient discretization of
1 2k k 4qΔs2 Eqs. ((2) and (11) and (14)–(16), respectively:
for V ≥ 0 : Ti = Ti− 1 ΔsV + + Ti+1 +
ΔsV + ρCk p ρC p ρC p ρCp D
n
Vi+1 = Vin = V n (38)
(35-a)
( ) ( ) ⃒ n− 1 ⃒
( ( ) ( ) ) (gβΔsΔt) ∑ ∑ 2aμb Δt ⃒V ⃒
1 k 2k 4qΔs2 V n = V n− 1 + Ti n − Ti n −
for V < 0 : Ti = T + T − ΔsV + + ( )b−
− ΔsV + ρCk p
i− 1
ρC p
i+1
ρC p ρCp D L hot leg cold leg
ρb0 Db+1 V n− 1
1

( )
(35-b) −
KΔt n− 1 ⃒⃒ n− 1 ⃒⃒
V V (39)
2
For cooler:
( ( ) ( ) ) For heater:
1 2k k 4hΔs2 Ts
forV ≥0: Ti = Ti− 1 ΔsV + +Ti+1 + ( ( )
ΔsV + ρCk p + 4hΔs
2
ρC p ρCp ρC p D 1 2kΔt
ρCp D for V ≥ 0 : Ti Tin =
n− 1
Δs2
− VΔsΔt −
Δs2 ρCp
(36-a) ( ) ( ) )
2
kΔt kΔt 4qΔs Δt
+ Ti−n 1 VΔsΔt + n
+ Ti+1 + (40-a)
ρC p ρC p ρCp D

( ( ) ( ) )
1 k 2k 4hΔs2 Ts
for V < 0 : Ti = 4hΔs2
Ti− 1 + Ti+1 − ΔsV + + (36-b)
− ΔsV + k
ρCp + ρCp D
ρCp ρCp ρC p D

For all sections except heater and cooler: 1

( (
2kΔt
) ( )
n− 1 kΔt
( ( ) ( )) for V < 0 : Ti
n− 1
Tin =
Δs 2
+ VΔsΔt − + T i− 1
1 2k k Δs2 ρC p ρC p
for V ≥ 0 : Ti = k
Ti− 1 ΔsV + + Ti+1 (37-a) ( ) )
ΔsV + ρCp ρCp ρCp kΔt 4qΔs 2
Δt
n− 1
+ Ti+1 − VΔsΔt + + (40-b)
ρC p ρC p D
( ( ) ( ))
1 k 2k
for V < 0 : Ti = T i− 1 + T i+1 − ΔsV + For cooler:
− ΔsV + ρCk p ρC p ρCp
( ( )
(37-b) 1 2kΔt 4hΔs2 Δt
for V ≥ 0 : Tin =
Tin− 1 Δs2 − VΔsΔt − −
Δs 2 ρC p ρC p D
Eq. (34) cannot be solved analytically, since it is a particular form of ( ) ( ) 2
)
kΔt kΔt 4hΔs ΔtT
nonlinear equations. The numerical method was considered to solve it in (41-a)
s
+ Ti−n 1 VΔsΔt + n
+ Ti+1 +
ρC p ρC p ρCp D
each step of the steady-state solution. Now we can determine the arrays
of matrixes of A and B. In a simple form, they are illustrated in Table 4. ( ( ) ( )
1 2kΔt 4hΔs2 Δt n− 1 kΔt
Where ai,i-1, ai,i and ai,i+1 are the coefficients of Ti-1, Ti and Ti+1 in Eqs. for V < 0 : T i Tin =
n− 1
Δs 2
+ VΔsΔt − − + T i− 1
Δs2 ρCp ρCp D ρC p
35–37, respectively, while bi demonstrates the definite parameters in ( ) )
2
these equations. The flowchart of the steady-state solution is showed in n− 1
+ Ti+2 − VΔsΔt +
kΔt
+
4hΔs ΔtTs
(41-b)
Fig. 3. ρC p ρC p D
For all sections except heater and cooler:
4.2. Transient solution

While the steady-state solution is accomplished, we need to solve

Table 5
Arrays of matrixes of A and B in transient solution according to Eq. (40) – (42).
The movement direction Heater Cooler All sections except heater and cooler
( ) ( ) ( )
Arrays of matrix of A V>0 ρ Cp V k ρ Cp V k ρ Cp V k
ani.i− 1 = − + 2 ani.i− 1 = − + 2 ani.i− 1 = − + 2
Δs Δs Δs Δs Δs Δs
ρCp ρCp V 2k ρCp ρCp V 2k 4h ρCp ρCp V 2k
ani.i = + + 2 ani.i = + + 2+ ani.i = + + 2
Δt Δs Δs Δt Δs Δs D Δt Δs Δs
k k k
ani.i+1 = − ani.i+1 = − ani.i+1 = −
Δs2 Δs2 Δs2
V<0 k k k
ani.i− 1 = − ani.i− 1 = − ani.i− 1 = −
Δs2 Δs2 Δs2
ρCp ρCp V 2k ρCp ρCp V 2k 4h ρCp ρCp V 2k
ani.i = − + 2 ani.i = − + 2+ ani.i = − + 2
Δt Δs Δs Δt Δs Δs D Δt Δs Δs
n ρCp V k n ρ Cp V k n ρCp V k
ai.i+1 = − 2
ai.i+1 = − 2
ai.i+1 = − 2
Δs Δs Δs Δs Δs Δs
Arrays of matrix of B Not matter 4q ρCp Tin− 1 4hTs ρCp Tn− i
1
ρCp Tin− 1
bni = + bni = + bni =
D Δt D Δt Δt

8
Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

( ( ) ( )
1 2kΔt kΔt forced by the Courant number criterion has affected in better adher­
for V ≥ 0 : Tin = 2 Tin− 1 Δs2 − VΔsΔt − + Ti−n 1 VΔsΔt +
Δs ρC p ρC p ence for the simulated model. The present computational code proves its
(
kΔt
) capability in foreseeing dynamic performance for single-phase NCLs.
n
+ Ti+1
ρC p
(42-a) 5.2. Effects of nanofluid on the heat removal capacity of the system

The temperature difference across the heater (ΔTh) which is the

( ( ) ( ) ( )
1 2kΔt kΔt kΔt
for V < 0 : Tin = Tin− 1 Δs2 + VΔsΔt − + Ti−n− 11 n− 1
+ Ti+1 − VΔsΔt + (42-b)
Δs 2 ρC p ρCp ρC p

Fourier number (Bergman and Incropera, 2011) is a dimensionless
number that characterizes transient heat conduction. This number and
Courant number have to be considered to solve the transient solutions.
The satisfaction of Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy condition (Courant et al.,
1967) is the stability condition of applying the upwind scheme. Eqs. (43)
and (44) represent the Fourier number and the Courant number limi­
tation for one-dimensional case, respectively:
⃒αΔt⃒
⃒ ⃒
⃒ 2 ⃒ ≤ 0.5 (43)
Δs
⃒ ⃒
⃒VΔt⃒
⃒ ⃒
⃒ Δs ⃒ ≤ 1 (44)
where α demonstrates thermal diffusivity as follow:
k
α= (45)
Cp ρ
The minimum value between the Fourier number and the Courant
number determines Δt for the transient solution.
Eq. (39) cannot be solved analytically, like Eq. (34), so the numerical
method was considered to solve it in each time step for the transient
solution. Then arrays of matrixes of A and B were determined as shown
in Table 5.Where ani,i-1, ani,i and ani,i+1 are the coefficients of Tni-1, Tni,
and Tni+1 in Eqs. 40–42 respectively; while bni demonstrates the definite
parameters in these equations and Tn− 1i represents the temperature of
the studied node in the previous time step. The flowchart of the transient
solution is also illustrated in Fig. 4.
5. Results and discussion
In this study, the effects of different working fluids on the steady-
state and transient behavior within a single-phase natural circulation
are investigated.
temperature difference between inlet and outlet flow in the heater, was
considered for the analysis of input power influences on the system.
Fig. 6 demonstrates the effect of power input for different working
fluids. Each picture relates to the ΔTh for all working fluids in one
specified heater power. Since the sign of ΔTh depends on the circulation
direction (clockwise or counterclockwise), its absolute values are
plotted in these diagrams.
Concerning the steady-state temperatures at the same power, the
absolute value of ΔTh for Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids is always higher
than that of Water, because of their low specific heat. The increased
nanofluid concentration in the loop leads to an increase in the absolute
value of ΔTh. Improvement of the thermal conductivity effect followed
by reducing the convective effect in nanofluids is a logical explanation of
this result. These thermos-physical characteristics are bolded for Al2O3
nanofluid. By comparing these plots to each other, it is derived that ΔTh
increases as the power increases for all working fluids. In order to obtain
a long-term operation capability of the system, it is simulated during the
12 h time period with all samples. The considerable growth in the
beginning temperature difference occurs when the fluid starts circu­
lating through the loop.
Moreover, to study the thermal stability, ΔTh can represent how
much heat was removed from the system. The steady temperature dif­
ference across the heat source results in the stable thermo-hydraulic
behavior for all working fluids in every power input. The stability is
reached when driving, and resistance forces get to equal value, which
they are characterized by thermal conductivity and total friction losses
in this system. Moreover, the shear stresses can make the circulation
stability induced by the buoyancy forces.
Table 6 indicates the absolute value of ΔTh in different heater power
for all fluids with diverse nanofluid concentrations. It increases for the
higher values of power applied and higher particle concentration. The
growth in this parameter is more significant for Al2O3 nanofluid as its
highest growth is about 15%, but the absolute value of ΔTh in TiO2
nanofluid increases 5% at the maximum concentration of nanofluid.

5.3. Effects of nanofluid on the steady-state mass flow rate

5.1. Model validation
Prior to starting the dynamic performance assessment, it is necessary
to determine the accuracy of the simulated model by published data
from literature under transient condition. The experimental study on
NCL behavior by applying nanofluids, which was accomplished by
Nayak et al. (2008) is the benchmark problem that has been taken in this
study. We also considered their studied apparatus here. They found
increment of 20% and 35% in the steady-state mass flow rate regarding
to nanofluid concentration and operating conditions, as it is shown in
Fig. 5. We also study this parameter, as illustrated in this figure. The
difference between their results and ours was minimally 0.1% and
maximally 8% for water and Al2O3 nanofluid with 2 wt% nanoparticles.
The small difference in magnitude can be the result of the nature of
employed numerical scheme and closure relations. The small time-step
In a single-phase natural circulation loop, it is vital to determine the
mass flow rate as a function of the boundary conditions, particularly the
heater power and, as a practical parameter in our study, the type of fluid
and its concentration.
The effect of the heater power on the steady-state mass flow rate of
the water and nanofluids are illustrated in Fig. 7.
At fixed applied power, the steady-state mass flow rate of Al2O3
nanofluid is highest; for higher concentrations, it increases. This result
significantly might cause by the effect of the viscosity incensement. This
parameter is also higher for TiO2 nanofluid compared to Water, whereas
in the constant concentration of both nanofluids, the steady-state mass
flow rate is considerably higher for Al2O3 nanofluid. At a fixed power
input, the maximum growth of this parameter in Al2O3 nanofluid,
compared to pure Water, is about 22%, while TiO2 nanofluid increases

9
Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

only about 10%. These increments are strongly depending on the con­
centration of nanopowder and operating conditions. If the heater power
increases, the fluid mass flow rate increases due to enhancement of
density gradient between the hot and cold sections; this is valid for both
water and nanofluids with different concentrations. The mass flow rate
trends are almost linear with power; this could be explained with an
unwanted increase in shear stresses. It must be mentioned that the
investigated power range was limited due to avoid the establishment of
two-phase flow.
5.4. Effects of nanofluids on the stability of the system

In the case of stable flow, the gravitational forces are balanced with
the shear stress ones. Vijayan et al. (2000) develop an experimental
correlation that relates terms of Ress, the steady-state Reynolds number,
and Grm, a modified Grashof number. Ress and Grm, are defined by:
ρDVss
Ress = (46)
μ

D3 .ρ2 .Q.H.β.g
Grm = (47)
A.μ3 .Cp

And Eq. (48) is expressed Vijayan’s correlation:

( )0.5
Grm
Ress = 0.1768 (for laminar flow) (48-a)
NG

( )2.75
1
Grm
Ress = 1.96 (for turbulent flow) (48-b)
NG

where NG is a geometrical parameter and introduced as:

( )
Lt K
NG = + (49)
D f

where Lt, D, K, and f respectively represent the total length of the loop,
pipe diameter, resistance coefficient, and Fanning friction factor.
The dimensionless Grashof number has to be calculated based on the
circulating flow rate for data analyzing, and then compared with the
steady-state Vijayan’s correlation.
Vijayan got some assumptions for this model which are:

➢ The 1D model,
➢ Large-scale NCL,
➢ Negligible heat losses (<5%),
➢ Negligible viscous heating and axial conduction effects, and
➢ The Boussinesq approximation.

The laminar flow in low range of the power input and the turbulent
flow in high range are always remained in the steady-state conditions.
Fig. 8 shows the comparison between the numerical data and
Vijayan’s correlation for steady-state flow. The vicinity of the points to
Vijayan’s correlation line shows anticipating of modeling condition by

Fig. 5. Variation of steady state flow rate with different concentration of

Fig. 4. Simulation algorithm for transient solution. nanoparticles.

10
Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494

Fig. 6. Transient behaviors of ΔTh for power input of: (a) 100 W; (b) 300 W; (c) 500 W.

this correlation. The point is placed above the line as calculated steady- calculated as:
state flow rate is higher than prospected one by Vijayan’s correlation;
L dṁ fLṁ2
the point under the line shows the calculated steady-state flow rate is ΔP(t) = + (50)
less than forecasted one. A dt 2DρA
There is a good agreement between the presented simulations and
where L, A, and ṁ represents the length of horizontal unheated pipe,
the correlation. Data for Water are closer to the prediction by the
flow area, and mass flow rate, respectively. By applying Eq. (9) in this
generalized flow correlation, whereas those for Al2O3 and TiO2 nano­
equation, the final form of transient pressure drop equation is:
fluids are moderately higher.
This argument may be clarified by the absence of current nanofluid L dṁ aLμb ṁ2− b
ΔP(t) = + 1+b 2− b (51)
property models to simulate the natural circulation phenomena, which A dt 2D ρA
might cause uncertainty on the temperature differences across heater
This equation is solved numerically by an implicit method like pre­
and cooler, and consequently on the steady-state velocities and Reynolds
vious ones, and the discretized form of this is expressed in the following
numbers. As another result, while the concentration of nanofluid grows,
equation (Eq. (52)). By solving this equation for each time step, the
conformity to Vijayan’s correlation is decreased.
oscillatory behavior of different systems can be observed.
Because of the misunderstanding phenomenon by Vijayan’s corre­
lation accuracy at the condition of this problem, another analysis has (
aΔtμb (ṁ2− b )n
)
L
selected to observe the stability of natural circulation by using nano­ ΔPn = ṁ n + − ṁ n− 1
(52)
2D1+b ρA1− b A∂t
fluids. In this analysis, the transient pressure drop under the problem
condition for flow across a section of horizontal unheated piping is Fig. 9 shows the flow instability behavior of loop with different

Table 6
Steady-state ΔTh values for all study cases.
ΔTh (◦ C) Input power (W) and fluids

Water Al2O3 TiO2

Concentration 100 300 500 100 300 500 100 300 500

1% 2.87 7.23 10.94 3.04 7.50 11.10 2.93 7.37 11.14

2% 3.12 7.94 12.05 2.97 7.46 11.28
4% 3.20 8.30 12.60 3.04 7.61 11.51

11
Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi
Fig. 7. Steady-state fluid mass flow rate.
working fluids by observing pressure drop oscillation across a section of
horizontal unheated piping over time. For this analysis, the working
fluid was heated from an initial power of 150 W–600 W in steps of 150
W. The other operating condition was the same for all working fluid
throughout the modeling. As it is revealed, the flow was stable with the
addition of nanoparticles in different concentrations, in contrast to
Water. In the case of applying water as the working fluid, the flow was
found to become unstable by increasing the power input, while for the
same change in power input, no instability was observed.
5.5. Effects of nanofluids on the system effectiveness
Doganay et al. (Doganay and Turgut, 2015) defined a non­
dimensionalized factor to compare the effectiveness of different systems;
since Taylor et al. (2013) mentioned in their work, nondimensionalized
results make a clear conclusion on the effect of system parameters on
heat transfer enhancement:
.ΔT)h
ε=( ) (53)
ṁ.Cp .ΔT hc
Where ΔTh is the temperature difference of the fluid between the
inlet and outlet of the heater, whereas ΔThc is the temperature difference
Fig. 8. Comparison between Vijayan correlation and steady-state data.
12
Progress in Nuclear Energy 129 (2020) 103494
Fig. 9. Effect of concentration of different nanoparticles on flow behavior to
study stability behavior.
of the fluid between the cooler inlet and the heater outlet. According to
our assumption, the specific heat changes are negligible with tempera­
ture oscillation; besides the fluid mass flow rate is always constant as
fluid flows in a closed-loop. So this equation can be written as:
ΔTh
ε= (54)
ΔThc
The effectiveness factor as a function of particle concentration and
power input is given in Fig. 10.
As shown in Fig. 10, Al2O3 nanofluids are more effective than water
and TiO2 nanofluids. Moreover, the figure shows that as the particle
concentration increases in constant input power, the effectiveness in­
creases. The results of effectiveness approved ΔTh values for evaluation
of the thermal performance of the water, Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids.
6. Conclusion
In this study, the single-phase natural circulation inside a rectangular
loop was numerically investigated in terms of both thermal performance
and stability analysis. Water, Al2O3, and TiO2 (with different concen­
trations) were used as working fluids. A fully implicit technique was
Fig. 10. Effectiveness factor as a function of power applied for water
and nanofluids.
Z. Ghorbanali and S. Talebi
used for the numerical solution of discretized transient equations. Power
input was also changed during the simulation. A good agreement was
observed between the presented simulation and available experimental
data. According to obtained numerical results, the significant findings
are summarized as follows:
• The thermal performance of the system (by studying temperature
difference over the heater) increases in the case of nanofluids and
higher power input. This parameter values the highest for Al2O3 with
4% nanoparticle in weight.
• The mass flow rate of working fluid is also increased by about 22%
for Al2O3 and 10% for TiO2 nanofluids, respectively, in comparison
with pure Water due to increasing thermal performance in heater
and cooler sections. This parameter reaches higher by applying
higher input power.
• Investigating effectiveness parameter revealed that Al2O3 nanofluid
is more effective for heat removal duty from the system. More power
input also leads to more system effectiveness.
• In term of stability analysis, the obtained numerical results were
compared with Vijayan’s correlations, and good agreement was
observed for all fluids, especially nanofluids with higher
concentration.
• Finally, the ability of heat removal and also stability condition of the
natural circulation loops can be improved by using nanofluid instead
of pure Water.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2020.103494.
Credit author statement
Seed Talebi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Writing -
original draft, Writing- Reviewing and Editing, Investigation. Zahra
Ghorbanali: Data curation, Software, Validation, Writing- Reviewing
and Editing
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