• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.1137-1143
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• 2011

The IHX (intermediate heat exchanger) of a VHTR (very high-temperature reactor) is a core component that transfers the high heat generated by the VHTR at $950^{\circ}C$ to a hydrogen production plant. Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute manufactured a small-scale prototype of a PCHE (printed circuit heat exchanger) that was being considered as a candidate for the IHX. In this study, as a part of high-temperature structural integrity evaluation of the small-scale PCHE prototype, we carried out high-temperature structural analysis modeling and macroscopic thermal and elastic structural analysis for the small-scale PCHE prototype under small-scale gas-loop test conditions. The modeling and analysis were performed as a precedent study prior to the performance test in the small-scale gas loop. The results obtained in this study will be compared with the test results for the small-scale PCHE. Moreover, these results will be used in the design of a medium-scale PCHE prototype.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.107-114
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• 2016

Four cylindrically shaped IHXs(Intermediate Heat Exchangers) are installed in the PHTS(Primary Heat Transfer System) of the PGSFR(Prototype Gen IV Sodium cooled Fast Reactor). As for the IHX, the temperature difference of structure is inevitable result caused by heat transfer between primary coolant sodium and IHTS(Intermediate Heat Transport System) sodium. It is necessary to evaluate the high temperature structural integrity of IHXs which operate at the elevated temperature condition over the creep temperature. In this paper, the high temperature structural integrity of IHX under assumed loading conditions has been reviewed according to ASME code.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2007

The conceptual design of the MIT modular pebble bed reactor is described. This reactor plant is a 250 Mwth, 120 Mwe indirect cycle plant that is designed to be deployed in the near term using demonstrated helium system components. The primary system is a conventional pebble bed reactor with a dynamic central column with an outlet temperature of 900 C providing helium to an intermediate helium to helium heat exchanger (IHX). The outlet of the IHX is input to a three shaft horizontal Brayton Cycle power conversion system. The design constraint used in sizing the plant is based on a factory modularity principle which allows the plant to be assembled 'Lego' style instead of constructed piece by piece. This principle employs space frames which contain the power conversion system that permits the Lego-like modules to be shipped by truck or train to sites. This paper also describes the research that has been conducted at MIT since 1998 on fuel modeling, silver leakage from coated fuel particles, dynamic simulation, MCNP reactor physics modeling and air ingress analysis.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.296-299
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• 2007

KAERI is in the process of carrying out the Nuclear Hydrogen Development and Demonstration (NHDD) Program. The indirect cycle gas cooled reactors that produce heat at temperatures in the order of $950^{\circ}C$ are being considered in the NHDD program. For the indirect gas cooled reactors, the intermediate hear exchanger (IHX) and hot gas duct (HGD) are the main components. For the NHDD program we are in the process of establishing a conceptual design of the IHX and HGD. The pre-conceptual design activities in this study dealt with a preliminary design of the IHX and the HGD including strength and thermal expansion evaluation of the main components.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.945-953
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• 2006

Though a fully thermally coupled distillation column consumes less energy than an original column, it is not widely implemented in practice due to its operational difficulty. A new fully thermally coupled distillation column is proposed for the operability improvement, and its performance is investigated. The main improvement is the separation of a main column to give an upper and lower columns and the installation of an intermediate heat exchanger between them to regulate the fluctuation of product compositions. A proper manipulation of column pressure in the separated main columns made easy vapor flow without a compressor. The operability improvement is examined in a hexane process from the dynamic simulation using a commercial design software HYSYS. The simulation results indicate that the coupling among inputs and outputs is loosened to make easy manipulation of product compositions in the proposed distillation system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.185.1-185
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• 2001

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2020

Despite the recent growth of interest in molten salt reactor technology and the crucial role which heat transfer plays in the design of power reactors, specific studies on the design of heat exchangers for the Molten Salt Fast Reactor have not yet been performed. In this work we deliver a preliminary but quantitative analysis of the intermediate heat exchangers, based on reference design data from the SAMOFAR H2020-Euratom project. Two different promising reference technologies are selected for study thanks to their compactness features, the Printed Circuit and the Helical Coil heat exchangers. We present preliminary design results for each technology, based on simplified design tools. Results highlight the limiting effects of the compactness constraints imposed on the fuel salt inventory and the allowed size. Large pressure drops on both flow sides are to be expected, with negative consequences on pumping power and natural circulation capabilities. The small size required for the flow channels also represents possible fabrication issues and safety concerns regarding channel blockage.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.991-998
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• 2010

The effect of increasing the elevation of an IHX (intermediate heat exchanger) on the transient performance of the KALIMER-600 reactor pool during the early phase of a loss of normal heat sink accident was investigated. Three reactors equipped with IHXs that were elevated to different heights were designed, and the thermal-hydraulic analyses were carried out for the steady and transient state by using the COMMIX-1AR/P code. In order to analyze the effects of the elevation of an IHX between reactors, various thermal-hydraulic properties such as mass flow rate, core peak temperature, RmfQ (ratio of mass flow over Q) and initiation time of decay heat removal via DHX (decay heat exchanger) were evaluated. It was found that with an increase in the IHX elevation, the circulation flow rate increases and a steep rise in the core peak temperature under the same coastdown flow condition is prevented without a delay in the initiation of the second stage of cooling. The available coastdown flow range in the reactor could be increased by increasing the elevation of the IHX.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

Nuclear hydrogen production using high temperature heat of a very high temperature reactor(VHTR) is one of the most attractive ways of mass hydrogen production without greenhouse gas emission. In many countries, sulfur-iodine(S-I) thermochemical process and high temperature steam electrolysis(HTSE) process are being investigated. In such processes, corrosion behavior of Intermediate heat exchanger materials are the most critical issues. Especially in a HTSE system, several heat exchangers will be facing hot steam conditions. In this paper, the status of high temperature corrosion researches in hot steam and supercritical water conditions are reviewed in view of the implication to HTSE conditions. Based on the review, test condition and plan of the hot steam corrosion of the candidate materials are formulated and described in some details along with the schematics of the test set-up. The test results and subsequent evaluation will be used in development of a interface system between the HTSE hydrogen production system and the VHTR.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.175-185
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• 2018

This research investigates the internal flow and heat transfer in a plate heat exchanger with chevron shape by utilizing the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The basic unit of the plate heat exchanger is generally composed of a hot channel, an intermediate chevron plate, and a cold channel. Several studies have reported experimental and numerical simulation of heat transfer and pressure drop. This study focused on the detailed numerical simulation of flow and heat transfer in the complicated chevron shape channel. The long chevron plate was designed to include 16 chevron patterns. For proper mesh resolution, the number of cells was determined after the grid sensitivity test. The working fluid is water, and its properties are defined as a function of temperature. The Reynolds number ranges from 900 to 9,000 in the simulation. A realizable $k-{\varepsilon}$ model and non-equilibrium wall function are properly considered for the turbulent flow. The friction factors and heat transfer coefficient are validated by comparing them with existing empirical correlations, and other patterned flow phenomena are also investigated.