<![CDATA[Pressure loss in the High Pressure Heater (HPH)–deaerator bypass pipeline reduces the hydraulic performance of the feedwater system. One of the factors affecting pressure loss is the geometry of the pipe junction. This study aims to investigate the effect of pipe junction geometry on flow characteristics and pressure drop in the HPH–deaerator bypass using three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Unlike previous studies, which generally evaluated tee or elbow geometries separately, this study compares the existing blind tee with 1D, 1.5D, and 3D elbow configurations. Simulations were performed using ANSYS Fluent 2023 R2 under steady-state, single-phase flow conditions. The working fluid was modeled as compressed liquid water based on the HPH design specifications and temperature data obtained from the Distributed Control System (DCS). The simulation results show that the blind tee produced the most non-uniform velocity and pressure distributions, resulting in the highest pressure drop of 20,150 Pa. Replacing the blind tee with elbow configurations improved flow uniformity and reduced the pressure drop to 18,181 Pa, 18,322 Pa, and 18,161 Pa for the 1D, 1.5D, and 3D elbow configurations, respectively. The results indicate that the 3D elbow provides the most uniform flow characteristics and the lowest pressure drop, making it a promising alternative pipe junction geometry for the HPH–deaerator bypass system.]]>
Copyrights © 2026
