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What is Thermal Driving Head – Definition

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Thermal driving head is the force that causes natural circulation to take place. It is caused by the difference in density between two bodies or areas of fluid. Thermal Engineering

Thermal Driving Head

Thermal driving head is the force that causes natural circulation to take place. It is caused by the difference in density between two bodies or areas of fluid. Consider two equal volumes of the same type of fluid. If the two volumes are not at the same temperature, then the volume with the higher temperature will also have a lower density and, therefore, less mass. It is known that the density of gases and liquids depends on temperature, generally decreasing (due to fluid expansion) with increasing temperature. Since the volume at the higher temperature will have a lower mass, it will also have less force exerted on it by gravity. This difference in the force of gravity exerted on the fluid will tend to cause the hotter fluid to rise and the colder fluid to sink. Thermal driving head can be simply calculated using the difference in hydrostatic pressures:

thermal driving head - equation

As can be seen, the greater the temperature difference between the hot and cold areas of fluid, the greater the thermal driving head and the resulting flow rate.

 
Density of water as a function of temperature
Chart - density - water - temperature

Density of water as a function of temperature

Natural Circulation – Flow Rate

Natural circulation flow rate in the loop, under steady state condition is determined from the balance between the driving and the resisting forces. Driving force results from density difference between hot leg and cold leg of the loop. The head required to compensate for the head losses is created by density gradients and elevation changes.

 
References:
Heat Transfer:
  1. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 7th Edition. Theodore L. Bergman, Adrienne S. Lavine, Frank P. Incropera. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2011. ISBN: 9781118137253.
  2. Heat and Mass Transfer. Yunus A. Cengel. McGraw-Hill Education, 2011. ISBN: 9780071077866.
  3. U.S. Department of Energy, Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 2 of 3. May 2016.

Nuclear and Reactor Physics:

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  5. W.S.C. Williams. Nuclear and Particle Physics. Clarendon Press; 1 edition, 1991, ISBN: 978-0198520467
  6. G.R.Keepin. Physics of Nuclear Kinetics. Addison-Wesley Pub. Co; 1st edition, 1965
  7. Robert Reed Burn, Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Operation, 1988.
  8. U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Physics and Reactor Theory. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 1 and 2. January 1993.
  9. Paul Reuss, Neutron Physics. EDP Sciences, 2008. ISBN: 978-2759800414.

Advanced Reactor Physics:

  1. K. O. Ott, W. A. Bezella, Introductory Nuclear Reactor Statics, American Nuclear Society, Revised edition (1989), 1989, ISBN: 0-894-48033-2.
  2. K. O. Ott, R. J. Neuhold, Introductory Nuclear Reactor Dynamics, American Nuclear Society, 1985, ISBN: 0-894-48029-4.
  3. D. L. Hetrick, Dynamics of Nuclear Reactors, American Nuclear Society, 1993, ISBN: 0-894-48453-2.
  4. E. E. Lewis, W. F. Miller, Computational Methods of Neutron Transport, American Nuclear Society, 1993, ISBN: 0-894-48452-4.

See also:

Natural Circulation

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