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Hydraulic Performance of Small Bending Radius

Helical Coil-Pipe
a

Huaiming JU , Zhiyong HUANG , Yuanhui XU , Bing DUAN & Yu YU

Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology, Tsinghua University , Beijing , 100084 , P.R.

China
Published online: 07 Feb 2012.

To cite this article: Huaiming JU , Zhiyong HUANG , Yuanhui XU , Bing DUAN & Yu YU (2001) Hydraulic Performance
of Small Bending Radius Helical Coil-Pipe, Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 38:10, 826-831, DOI:
10.1080/18811248.2001.9715102
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18811248.2001.9715102

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Journal of NUCLEAR SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY, Vol. 38, No. 10, p. 826831 (October 2001)

Hydraulic Performance of Small Bending Radius Helical Coil-Pipe

Huaiming JU , Zhiyong HUANG, Yuanhui XU, Bing DUAN and Yu YU
Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China
(Received April 5, 2001 and accepted in revised form July 23, 2001)
Helical steam generator or helical heat exchanger is extensively used in high-temperature gas cooling reactor, fast
breeder reactor, pressurized water reactor using in ship propulsion and areas of electro-power, chemical industry and
petroleum industry. The purpose of this paper is to research the hydraulic performance of small bending radius helical
coil-pipe used in HTR-10. Research for hydraulic performance of small bending radius helical pipe was carried out on
the HTR-10 steam generator experimental facility. Based on the experimental results, it was confirmed that for helical
pipe the critical Reynolds number (Re) is much greater than in a straight pipe and is a function of De. Formulas for Re
of single-phase flow structure transition, friction coefficient of single-phase flow, and two-phase flow friction factor are
obtained. Experience formulas of small bending radius helical pipe are recommended for design and research.

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KEYWORDS: hydraulic performance, small bending radius helical pipe, single-phase flow, two-phase flow,
friction, fluid flow, helical pipe, design

I. Introduction
Helical steam generator or helical heat exchanger is extensively used in high-temperature gas cooling reactor (HTGR),
fast breeder reactor and pressurized water reactor using in
ship propulsion. It is also used widely in the areas of electropower, chemical industry and petroleum industry etc. In
HTGR it is a very important heat-exchanging device. Comparing with straight tube heat exchanger, firstly, the efficiency
of heat transfer is much higher, it is a heat transfer strengthened heat exchanger. Secondly, its structure is compact; so
more heat can be transferred in one unit space, which is benefit to structural integration. Lastly, its heat expanding can be
free, therefore the safety and reliability of the device may be
easily improved.
By structure, helical steam generator can be classified as
many-layer helical structural integrated arrangement such as
the intermediate heat exchanger of HTTR in Japan and modular arrangement such as the steam generator and intermediate heat exchanger of HTR-10 in China. In the generator of
many-layer helical structural integrated arrangement, helical
pipes are arranged as cylindrical by the same radial distance
between layers. The amount of pipes of every cylindrical and
the distance between layers are chosen to make the length
equal for all pipes. For example, in the intermediate heat
exchanger of HTTR, 96 helical pipes are divided as 6 layers. While the modular arrangement heat exchanger are composed of helical pipes whose radius are equal. For instance,
the steam generator in HTR-10 is composed of 30 equal radius helical pipes. At present, most of the steam generators
in HTR in the world are designed as many-layer big bending
radius structure, such as AVR (Germany), THTR (Germany),
the Peach Bottom HTGR (USA), and HTTR (Japan). While
ABTY-50 (Russia) and HTR-10 (China) which has been built
are designed as small equal bending radius structure.
As for the many-layer big bending radius helical heat exchanger, the structure of small bending radius helical heat ex

Corresponding author, Tel. +86-10-62784833, Fax. +86-1062771150, E-mail: huaiming@inet.tsinghua.edu.cn

changer is also compact. What is more, since its radius can be

very small, the efficiency of heat exchanging can be higher,
and since bending radius of every helical pipe is equal, so
they can be manufactured on a batch process, and every pipe
can be checked and replaced individually. The same structure of the pipe can be used in heat exchangers of different
power. In the case of two-phase flow stability is concerned,
this kind of steam generator avoids the boiling state deviation
because of its equal bending radius, which is benefit to stability. But, because bending radius is too small, in sharp bending
helical pipes, steam and liquid are flowing in helically stratified flow mode. The secondary flow, which can be caused by
centrifugal force, is disadvantageous to stability. In nuclear
reactor, steam generator is the boundary of the primary and
the secondary loops. In the strict sense of the requirement for
structural integrity, the thermal-hydraulic performance of helical steam generator must be understood adequately. Some
scientists have researched thermal-hydraulic performance of
single-phase and two-phase flow in helical pipe,14) but they
are all studied many-layer big radius helical structural integrated arrangement such as CNSG-IV, the smallest radius is
92.25in. But research for small bending radius is very few.
In this paper, the hydraulic performance of small bending radius helical pipe is researched based on the steam generator
in HTR-10.

II. Hydraulic Performance of Flow in Small Bending

Radius Helical Pipe
Imaginative secondary flow in the section of a helical pipe
is shown in Fig. 1. Since the flow in the small bending radius helical pipe is strongly influenced by centrifugal force,
its hydraulic performance has following characteristics:
(1) By the effect of centrifugal force, the critical Reynolds
number (Re) at which the flow transitions from laminar flow to turbulent flow is no longer a constant value,
but a function of De (De=Re(d/D)1/2 ), where De is
a criterion characterizing effect of centrifugal force, d
is the diameter of the pipe, and D is the helical diame-

826

827

Hydraulic Performance of Small Bending Radius Helical Coil-Pipe

If the diameter of the pipe is adopted as the established size,

we can obtain
De = Re (d/D)1/2 ,

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Fig. 1 Imaginative secondary flow model in the section of a helical

pipe

ter. And since the effect of centrifugal force inhibits the

disordered turbulence strongly, so the value of critical
Reynolds number is much greater.
(2) In two-phase flow, steam and liquid flow in different layers not only because of gravity, but since density of liquid is greater, liquid concentrates to the outboard and its
velocity is increased, and the helically secondary flow
is formed at transverse direction, so the frictional resistance is much greater.
(3) Considering the effect of centrifugal force, Eulers criterion is no longer the function of only Re, the differential
conservation equation which is considered gravity, pressure, friction and centrifugal force is:

(6)

where d is the diameter of the pipe and D is the bending diameter.

From above obviously, in the steady-flow neglecting gravity the following criterion equation of helical pipe flow performance can be obtained
Eu = f (De, Re).

(7)

III. Experimental Facility and Process

In order to determine hydraulic performance of flow in

small bending radius helical pipe, which was used in steam
generator of HTR-10, research for hydraulic performance of
small bending radius helical pipe was carried out on the HTR10 steam generator experimental facility (SGTM-10). System
SGTM-10 is displayed in Fig. 2. It is composed of 3 individual circulations, which are He circulation; secondary water
circulation and cooling water circulation. Test section displayed in Fig. 3. It is composed of two evaporating pipes,
which are used in steam generator of HTR-10. The evaporating pipe is shown in Fig. 4, and structural parameters are
x : (x / ) + (x x / x + y x / y + z x /z) shown in Table 1 while as typical regime, thermal parameters
of two groups of tests are shown in Table 2 (the regime of
= gx p/ x
50% load is a typical stable regime, while the regime of 30%
+ ( 2 x / x 2 + 2 x / y 2 + 2 x /z 2 ) + 2x /R load is a regime closed to the instability boundary). Steam
generator in HTR-10 is composed of 30 evaporating pipes,
(1)
and every evaporating pipe is composed of 4 helical pipes,
y : ( y / ) + (x y / x + y y / y + z y /z) diameter of the first three pipe is 18 mm, pipe wall thickness is 3 mm, diameter of the last one is 18 mm, pipe wall
= g y p/ y
thickness is 2 mm. Orifice-plate flow-meter is placed at inlet,
+ ( 2 y / x 2 + 2 y / y 2 + 2 y /z 2 ) + 2y /R while thermocouple and pressure meter are placed at outlet,
and pressure differential of every sector is measured by pres(2)
sure difference transducer.
z : (z / ) + (x z / x + y z / y + z z /z)
Theoretical analysis is compared with experimental measurement
in this paper, and some values, which are lack, are
= gz p/z
obtained through matured theoretical calculation.
+ ( 2 z / x 2 + 2 z / y 2 + 2 z /z 2 ) + z2 /R,
(3)

where is the density (kg/m3 ), is the velocity (m/s), is

the time (s), g is the gravitational acceleration (m/s2 ), is the
viscosity (kgs/m2 ), R is the helical radius (m) and x, y, z are
coordinates (m).
We can obtain following equation from the second term of
left and the same term of right:
2 /l = p/l

or

p/ p2 = Eu.

(4)

From the second term of left and the third term of right, we
can obtain
/l = /l
2

or

pl/ = Re.

(5)

And from the second term of left and the forth term of right,
following equation is obtained
2 /l = 2 /R

or

R/l = const.

VOL. 38, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2001

IV. Result
Hydraulic performance in small bending radius helical pipe
is examined based on the data of evaporating pipes in the test
facility for the HTR-10, which includes frictional characters
of single-phase adiabatic flow and two-phase flow.
1. Reynolds Number of Single-phase Flow Structure
Transition
For single-phase adiabatic flow, resistance p can be obtained by superposition of several sections:
p = p f + pl + pg ,

(8)

where p f is the frictional pressure drop, pl is the local

pressure drop, and pg is the gravity pressure drop. p is
obtained by experimental measurement, pl and pg are obtained by matured theoretical calculation, so p f can be obtained. Frictional pressure drop of flow in helical pipe whose
length is L and diameter is d can be calculated as following

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828

H. JU et al.

1: Helium circulator, 2: Filter, 3: Cooler, 4: Electric heater and steam generator, 5: Pre-heater,
6: Canned pump, 7: Pressurizer, 8: Cooler, 9: Heat exchanger, 10: Water tank, 11: Plunger pump
Fig. 2 System flow chart

bottom

top

1: Electrical connection rod, 2: Helium inlet, 3: Bottom flange plate, 4: Labyrinth, 5: Electrical heater, 6: Shell,
7: Top flange plate, 8: SG unit, 9: Helium outlet, 10: SG cooling water inlet, 11: SG cooling water outlet
Fig. 3 Test assembly

equation:
p f = f L/d
/2,
2

(9)

where, L, d are known, and because of adiabatic flow, is

constant value, while can be known from flow rate measurement, so f can be obtained by the equation. Because
that in the case of laminar flow, the friction coefficient f c is a
function of Re, which in the case of turbulent flow, the f c is

basically independent of Re, so we can determine the transform point Recr . Relation between friction coefficient and
Re under different D/d is shown in Fig. 5. For this kind of
small bending radius helical pipe, critical Re at which singlephase flow transforms from laminar flow to turbulent flow is:
Recr =10, 000 when D/d=8.
So critical Re is no longer a constant value as the straight
pipe, but is a function of D/d.

JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

829

Hydraulic Performance of Small Bending Radius Helical Coil-Pipe

Fig. 4 Structural scheme of HTR-10 steam generator module

Outer diameter of heat transfer tube

Heater helical diameter
Vertical tube pitch
Central tube outer diameter
Casing tube inner diameter
Helical ascent angle
Helium flow area
Heater wall thickness-preheat region
Heater wall thickness-boiling region
Heater wall thickness-superheat region
Heater length
Heater total height

18 mm
112 mm
22.5 mm
83 mm
139 mm
3.66
0.0034 m2
3 mm
2 mm
2 mm
31.82 m
3.96 m

16000
critical Reynolds number Re cr

Table 1 Structural parameter of helical tube steam generator

12000

8000

4000

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

ratio of pipe diameter to bending diameter D/d

: Experimental points, : Calculated curves based on Eq. (10)

Table 2 Process parameters of helical tube steam generator

Rated load (%)
Heat power (kW)
Primary pressure (MPa)
Helium inlet temperature ( C)
Helium outlet temperature ( C)
Helium flow rate (kg/h)
Feed water pressure (MPa)
Feed water temperature ( C)
Steam exit pressure (MPa)
Steam exit temperature ( C)
Steam flow rate (kg/h)

30
81.1
3.0
643.0
194.0
125.0
4.21
104.0
4.0
440.0
102.0

50
135.1
3.0
661.0
212.0
208.0
4.59
104.0
4.0
440.0
102.0

0. 1
0. 08
friction coefficient fc

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Fig. 6 Critical Re-D/d relation curve

0. 06
0. 04
0. 02
0
0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Reynolds number Re

: Experimental points, : Calculated curves

While Miropolskiy5) et al. gave the equation:

(10)

Relative curve between Recr and D/d is displayed in Fig. 6

based on Eq. (10).

VOL. 38, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2001

2. Friction Coefficient of Single-phase Flow

Some researches have been done about friction drop of
single-phase flow in helical pipe. In general, they are based
on straight pipe, with a correction factor of helical pipe. For
example, Ito6) empirical formula is based on Blasius formula:
0.25
f s = 0.316/Recr

f c = 0.029 + 0.324[Re(d/D)2 ]0.25 (D/d)0.5 ,

(11)

where f s is the friction coefficient for straight pipe and f c

is the friction coefficient for helical pipe. Calculated curves
based on Ito6) and Mori7) formulas and our experimental data
for helical pipe friction factor and Re are shown in Fig. 7. Obviously, Itos curve cannot be confirmed by our experiments,
because in fact, in his formula helical pipe corrected friction
coefficient is irrelative to D and d. Based on the theoretic
analysis and a lot of tests, it is found that the effects of D
and d especially for small bending radius helical pipes, are
obvious.
For the Moris formula, the deviation is about 20%. We
think it may be caused by the difference in the radius of helical pipe.
Based on our experimental data, following formula can be
obtained:
When De<11.6, it is laminar flow
f s = 64/Re;

Fig. 5 Experimental Re- f c relation curve

Recr = 2, 100[1 + 12(d/D)0.5 ].

Result of the experiment is different from the result of

Miropolskiy equation at about 10%.

f c / f s = 1.

(12)

When De>11.6, Re<Recr , it is laminar with big vortex

0.4
d
0.75
f s = 64/Re; f c / f s = 1 + 0.015Re
.
D
(13)

830

friction coefficient f c

H. JU et al.
0. 10

300

0. 08

250

0. 06

200

Mori formula

150

0. 04
Ito formula

100

0. 02

50

0. 00
0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Reynolds number Re

: Experimental points, : Calculated curves

Fig. 7

0. 2

0. 4
0. 6
relative flowrate G/G0

0. 8

1. 0

: Experimental points, : Calculated curves

f c -Re comparison curve

Fig. 9 The friction pressure drop of single-phase flow for HTR-10

generator

0. 10
0. 08

2. 0

0. 06

1. 5

fc

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0
0. 0

0. 04
1. 0

0. 02
0. 5

0. 00
0

5000

10000

Re

15000

20000

25000

: Experimental points, : Calculated curves

Fig. 8

f c comparison curve of calculated and experimental data

When De>11.6, Re>Recr , it is turbulent flow

f s = 0.316/Re

0.25

0. 0
5
10
number of experiments

15

20

Pc , Pe : Frictional pressure drop

Pc : Calculated results based on formula (15)
Pe : Experimental results
Fig. 10 Two phase flow friction drop for HTR-10 generator

(smooth pipe);

f s = 0.1(1.46/d + 100/Re)0.25

tion factor , considering steam-liquid stratified flow and effects of centrifugal force

(: roughness of the pipe);

f c / f s = 1 + 0.11Re0.23 (d/D)0.14 .

(14)

The comparison of these formulas with our experimental data

is shown in Figs. 8 and 9.
3. Two-phase Flow Friction Factor
For two-phase flow friction drop in helical pipe, some researches have been done, such as Owhadi et al. gave the formula of boiling water in two kinds of helical pipes (D/d=20
and 42), with mass flow rate 325 kg/m2 and atmospheric pressure; Kozeki et al. measured flows resistance in helical pipe
steam generator with D/d=40 and P=300 psi, mass flow rate
325488 kg/m2 , and gave a formula for two-phase flow friction pressure drop. Some other researchers also gave some interesting results. But in general, these studies had been done
under low pressure and for big bending radius helical pipes.
None of above can be used for the steam generator of HTR-10
with small bending radius helical pipes and higher pressure.
A formula for frictional drop in small helical pipe was obtained. It was based on uniform flow formula with a correc-

p = (l/d)(02 /2)[1 + x(  /(  1))],

(15)

where is the friction factor, 0 is the flow velocity, supposing the pipe is full of liquid, x is the average steam content
and  is the unevenness correction factor.
From our experimental results, following equation was obtained by regression analysis:
 = (1.29 + An x n ){1 + x[( / )0.25 1]},

(16)

where A1 =2.19, A2 =3.61, A3 =7.35, A4 =5.93.

It is available in the range of our experimental parameters.
The experimental parameters are:
D/d = 8.09.3,
Pressure: P=2.54.5 MPa, Flow rate: G=2001, 500 kg/
(m2 s). The experimental results are shown in Fig. 10.

V. Conclusion
This paper describes the study results for hydraulic performance of a small helical pipe steam generator. It was con-

JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Hydraulic Performance of Small Bending Radius Helical Coil-Pipe

831

firmed that for helical pipe the critical Reynolds number is

much greater than for a straight pipe and is a function of De.
Based on the test results, experimental formulas of singlephase and two-phase flow frictional drop are obtained and
proved that they can be used for HTR-10 steam generator design.

4)

References

5)

ular high temperature gas-cooled reactor, Proc. Int. ANS/ENS

Topical Meeting on Thermal Reactor Safety, La Grange Park,
IL, USA, Am. Nucl. Soc., p. XV5.1XV5.6, (1986).
Bi-Qincheng, Chen-Tingkuan, Tian-Yongsheng, Study on twophase heat transfer coefficients in helical coil steam generation
of 200MW HTGR, Eighth Int. Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal-hydraulics, Tokyo, Japan, At. Energy Soc. Jpn.,
p. 10951100, V3, (1997).
Z. L. Miropolskiy, Heat transfer in film boiling of a steamwater mixture in steam-generator tubes, Teplonergetika, 10[5],
4952, (1963).
H. Ito, Friction factor for turbulent flow in curved pipes, J.
Basic Eng., p. 123134, (1959).
Y. Mori, W. Nakayama, Study on forced convections heat transfer in curved pipes, (2nd report, Turbulent region), Int. J. Heat
Mass Transfer, 10, 3759, (1967).

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1) G. B. Watson, Functional Performance of the Helical Coil Steam

Generator, Consolidated Nuclear Steam Generator(CNSG)4
System, PB-253 324, (1975).
2) V. G. Kubair, Heat transfer to multiphase flow in coiled pipes,
Proc. 8th Int. Heat Transfer Conf., New York, NY, USA, Hemisphere Pub., p. 23552360 (1986).
3) E. A. Bellis, S. B. Inamati, Safety characteristics of the mod-

VOL. 38, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2001

6)
7)