A computational mesh sensitivity study for forced convective heat transfer to water at supercritical conditions in tubes

A computational mesh sensitivity study for turbulent flow and heat transfer of supercritical water in a straight heated pipe was performed using the CFD software STAR-CCM+ 6.06.017. Computed results were validated against experimental results of [1]. The study was done using the SST k-ω turbulence model due to its previous success in predicting wall temperatures in flows of this type [2, 3]. This study presents recommendations for the meshing of the near wall region, specifically, near wall node placement, axial refinement and radial growth ratio (RGR) are discussed. An appropriate mesh was chosen to have a y+ < 0.3, a RGR = 1.19 and an axial refinement of 7.2×10^-4m.