Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Numerical investigation of a plate-type steam generator for a small modular nuclear reactor

  • Received : 2021.11.22
  • Accepted : 2022.02.19
  • Published : 2022.08.25
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Abstract

A numerical feasibility study was conducted to investigate the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of a steam generator with corrugated plates for a small modular reactor. Accordingly, a one-dimensional thermal-hydraulic analysis code was developed based on the existing state-of-the-art thermal-hydraulic models and correlations for corrugated plate heat exchangers. Subsequently, the pressure loss, heat transfer, and instability characteristics of the steam generator with corrugated plates were investigated according to the chevron angle and mass flux. Additionally, the characteristics of rectangular and disk-type corrugated plate steam generators with equivalent heat transfer areas were analyzed. The steam generator with disk-type corrugated plates exhibited better performance in terms of pressure loss and heat transfer rate than the rectangular type. In addition, when the mass flux decreased from the onset of boiling points, reverse gradients of the total pressure change were observed in both types. Thus, it was confirmed that Ledinegg instability could occur in the steam generator with corrugated plates. However, it was dependent on the chevron angle, and the optimal chevron angle to minimize instability was 45° under the conditions of the present analysis.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the Nuclear Research & Development Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) [grant number NRF-2019M2D2A1A03056998], and the Nuclear Safety Research Program through the Korea Foundation of Nuclear Safety (KOFONS) funded by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC), Republic of Korea [grant number 2003001].

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