Thermal hydraulic performance analysis of the printed circuit heat exchanger using a helium test facility and CFD simulations

The thermal-hydraulic performance of the PCHE was investigated using the KAIST helium test loop. Experiments were performed in the helium laminar region with 350 < Re < 1200. The hot/cold side inlet conditions were 25–550 °C/25–100 °C over the operating pressure of 1.5–1.9 MPa, respectively. Mass flow rates were controlled in the range of 40–100 kg/h. Pressure drop and temperature difference were measured at the inlet and outlet of the hot and cold sides. A global Fanning factor correlation and a global Nusselt number correlation were proposed using information only at the inlet and outlet of the hot and cold sides. A three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulation was performed using FLUENT, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, to compare simulation results to the KAIST helium test data and to obtain the local Nusselt number in the PCHE. CFD predictions showed good agreement with experimental data. A local pitch-averaged Nusselt number correlation was proposed using local temperature, pressure, surface heat fluxes, and properties provided by CFD simulations. The system analysis code, GAMMA, was also utilized to identify which correlation was more applicable for system analysis. It turns out that the proposed local pitch-averaged Nusselt number correlation from CFD simulations is more appropriate than the global Nusselt number correlation developed from experimental data.     

An experimental investigation of a passive cooling unit for nuclear plant containment

A set of condensation experiments in the presence of noncondensables (e.g. air, helium) was conducted to evaluate the heat removal capacity of a passive cooling unit in a post-accident containment. Condensation heat transfer coefficients on a vertically mounted smooth tube have been obtained for total pressure ranging from 2.48×10⁵ Pa(abs) to 4.55×10⁵ Pa(abs) and air mass fraction ranging from 0.30 to 0.65. An empirical correlation for heat transfer coefficient (h), has been developed in terms of a parameter group made up of steam mole fraction (Xs), total pressure (P_t), temperature difference between bulk gas and wall surface (dT). This correlation covers all data points within 20%. All data points are also in good agreement with the prediction of the diffusion layer model (DLM) with suction and are approximately 2.2 times the Uchida heat transfer correlation. Experiments with an axial shroud around the test tube to model the restriction on radial flow experienced within a tube bundle demonstrated a reduction of the heat transfer coefficient by a factor of about 0.6. The effect of helium (simulating hydrogen) on the heat transfer coefficient was investigated for helium mole fraction in noncondensable gases (X_He/X_nc) at 15, 30 and 60%. It was found that the condensation heat transfer coefficients are generally lower when introducing helium into noncondensable gas. The difference is within 20% of air-only cases when X_He/X_nc is less than 30% and total pressure is less than 4.55×10⁵ Pa(abs). A gas stratification phenomenon was clearly observed for helium mole fraction in excess of 60%.     

Analysis of heat transfer and flow characteristics in turbulent impinging jet

Jet impingement technique is characterized by a high heat removal capability. As such it has been proposed as a cooling method for the helium cooled divertor, a high-heat flux component of the future fusion reactor called DEMO. Since power plant efficiency depends on the divertor’s heat removal capability it has to meet certain demands, i.e. high-heat transfer and low pressure drop.In this paper local heat transfer and flow characteristics of an axis-symmetric impinging jet are analyzed numerically using the RANS approach and eddy viscosity type SST turbulence model. Turbulence models and heat transfer predictions are validated on the free jet impingement experiment (Baughn and Shimizu, 1989). Since the numerical results are affected by the turbulence model the influence of the turbulent production is investigated in particular.The validated numerical model is further applied to analyze the effect of the nozzle inlet shape on the heat removal capability and pressure drop in the confined impinging jet. Two different nozzle inlet parameters are tested; chamfer angle θ and chamfer depth L_ch. The numerical results are compared with the experimental data (Brignoni and Garimella, 2000).     

Numerical Investigation of Channel for Helium Cooled China HCCB-TBM First Wall by Application Enhance Heat Transfer Method

To enhance heat transfer efficiency on first wall (FW) of ITER China Helium-Cooled Ceramic Breeder-Test Blanket Module (HCCB-TBM), CFD numerical simulation method is adopted. On the basis of calculating helium gas cooling scheme of FW smooth channel, FW structural temperature gradient, maximum wall temperature, average heat transfer coefficient, and pressure drop of channel are selected as evaluation indexes. Numerical simulation comparison are performed on heat transfer schemes like placing transversal ribs and V-shaped ribs in the flow channel of front wall and the helium gas turbulence intensity and the heat transfer area are improved through optimizing the distance and angle between V-shaped ribs and other parameters to enhance heat transfer. The optimization scheme of helium-cooled FW for HCCB-TBM through the three dimensional numerical simulation is: V-shaped ribs are placed on the inner surface of front wall, the rib cross section is 1 mm × 1 mm, the distance between rib pitches is 10 mm and the rib angle is 60°. Under the same helium cooling condition, compared with the FW smooth channel, the optimized V-shaped rib scheme enhances the average heat transfer efficiency by about 70 % and the FW maximum temperature drops by 349.3 K. The result provides support for further research on FW helium cooling heat transfer enhancement experiment and engineering design optimization for China HCCB-TBM.     

Numerical studies on helium cooled divertor finger mock up with sectorial extended surfaces

Jet impinging technique is an advance divertor concept for the design of future fusion power plants. This technique is extensively used due to its high heat removal capability with reasonable pumping power and for safe operation. In this design, plasma-facing components are fabricated with numerous fingers cooled by helium jets to reduce the thermal stresses. The present study is focused towards finding an optimum performance of one such finger mock-up through systematic computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies. Heat transfer characteristics of jet impingement have been numerically investigated with sectorial extended surfaces (SES). The result shows that addition of SES enhances heat removal potential with minimum pumping power. Detailed parametric studies on critical parameters that influence thermal performance of the finger mock-up have been analyzed. Thermo-mechanical analysis has been carried out through finite element based approach to know the state of stress in the assembly as a result of large temperature gradients. It is seen that the stresses are within the permissible limits for the present design. The whole numerical simulation has been carried out using general-purpose CFD software (ANSYS FLUENT, Release 14.0, User Guide, Ansys, Inc., 2011). Benchmark validation studies have been performed against high-heat flux experiments (B. Končar, P. Norajitra, K. Oblak, Appl. Therm. Eng., 30, 697–705, 2010) and a good agreement is noticed between the present simulation and the reported results.     

Optimization and limitations of known DEMO divertor concepts

In this work we will introduce and discuss improvements for two types of DEMO divertors based on known designs: (i) gas cooled designs and (ii) liquid coolant concepts. In a first step, the advantages and disadvantages of gas cooling as well as the necessity of a jet impingement to increase the heat transfer coefficients will be discussed. Further discussion deals with the pros and cons of liquid coolant concepts, like for example, liquid metal or water cooling.Thereafter, we will present two rather contrary DEMO divertor concepts which are based on today's knowledge on refractory materials science, fabrication and joining technology. The first improved concept uses water flowing through steel pipes, typically made of Eurofer steel. It is well known that using Eurofer at low temperatures is critical due to its severe embrittlement under neutron irradiation. Here we make a proposal how it could be possible to use the Eurofer steel anyway: the solution could consist in a limited operation period followed by an annealing cycle at 550 °C for a few hours during any maintenance shut down phases. The second design is based on the known helium cooling concept using jet impingement. Drawbacks of the actual He-cooled divertor design are small scale parts as well as the necessary high helium inlet temperature of about 600–800 °C which leads to the question: How can we deal with such high helium temperatures? This paper shows a solution for large scale components as well as a new thermal management for the helium outlet gas that we call ‘cooling of the coolant’.Both concepts are discussed in terms of materials selection due to material limits and joining technology with a special focus on the material issue using already existing and available materials.     

Investigations of Electra KrF laser hibachi foil cooling with small obliquely impinging jets

Electra is a large electron beam pumped KrF laser with transmission foils that separate the vacuum diodes from the laser gas. Active cooling of these foils is important when Electra operates at a rep-rate of 5 Hz because the attenuation of the electron beam by the foil produces a volumetric heating source. A method adopting a large number of locally injected high-speed circular gas jets was explored experimentally and numerically for the purpose of cooling and protecting the hibachi foil with an enhanced convection heat transfer rate. The jets were issued from the openings on two stainless-steel jet tubes parallel to the foil in a fashion such that the two straight lines of jets impinge on the foil obliquely and form a staggered coverage of the foil. CFD simulations were performed to identify the best jet impingement configuration. Bench-top experiments were performed at various jet diameters and jet velocities for a single foil span between two neighboring supporting ribs with a surface heat flux over 20.0 kW/m². Heat transfer enhancement of 60–700% over the case with jets turned off was observed depending on jet Reynolds numbers. Experimental Nusselt numbers were well-correlated with jet Reynolds number and the normalized jet-to-foil distance. The study shows that the impinging jets enhance heat transfer from the surface and offer an improved average cooling for a much larger foil area.     

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Electra KrF Laser Hibachi Foil Cooling with a Near-Wall Planar Jet

Repetitively pulsed operation (5 Hz) of the electra gas laser requires sufficient cooling of the transmission foils, which separate the vacuum diodes from the laser cell and is subject to excessive heat from the attenuation of electron beams. A new method adopting a near-wall, high-speed planar jet was proposed for the protection of the hibachi foil by enhanced convection heat transfer. The jet flows upwards and is parallel to the hibachi foil. Bench-top experiments simulating a single foil span between two neighboring supporting ribs were conducted. Jet velocities and surface heat fluxes were varied. Experimental Nusselt numbers were correlated as dependent on jet Reynolds number and normalized distance from the jet exit. CFD simulations were also performed, where good agreement was observed between the experiments and simulations. The study shows that the planar jet enhances heat transfer from the surface but with decreasing heat transfer coefficients downstream, which indicates that the foil is not cooled uniformly with a single planar jet.     

Thermal–hydraulic and thermo-structural analysis of first wall for Indian DEMO blanket module

The first wall (FW) is one of the most important components of any fusion blanket design. India has developed two concepts of breeding blanket for the DEMO reactor: the first one is Lead–Lithium cooled Ceramic Breeder (LLCB), and the second one is Helium-Cooled Ceramic Breeder (HCCB) concept. Both the concept has the same kind of FW structure. Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic steel (RAFMS) used as the structural material and helium (He) gas is used to actively cool the FW structure. Beryllium (Be) layer of 2 mm is coated on the plasma side of the FW as the plasma facing material. Cooling channels running in radial–toroidal–radial direction in the RAFMS structure are designed to withstand the maximum He pressure of 8 MPa. Heat transfer coefficients (HTC) obtained form the correlations revealed that required cooling could be achieved by artificially roughened surface towards the plasma-side wall of He cooling channel which helps to keep the RAFMS temperatures below the allowable limit. A 1D analytical and 2D thermal–hydraulic simulation studies using ANSYS has been performed based on the heat load obtained from neutronics calculations to confirm the heat removal and structural integrity under various conditions including ITER transient events. The required helium flow through the cooling channels are evaluated and used to optimize the suitable header design. The detail design of FW thermal–hydraulics, thermo-structural analyses, and He flow distribution network will be presented in this paper.     

Passive cooling of the PBMR spent and used fuel tanks

The pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) is a new generation high temperature gas-cooled reactor, making use of spherical fuel elements. The spent fuel and partially burnt fuel (called used fuel) is stored in large storage tanks. This paper presents the cooling design of the storage tanks, with special emphasis on its passive cooling ability.For corrosion protection, the tanks are cooled with a closed loop active system, however, passive cooling is seen as the ultimate cooling mode for the storage tanks. If the active cooling fails, the flow automatically bypasses the active system and passive cooling takes over. The active cooling is thus not safety-related; rather its purpose is for investment protection.The storage tank design with its longitudinal internal cooling pipes has a good passive cooling ability. The layout of the tank concrete cubicle ensures that cooling air can flow only in the desired direction. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses have been done for various heat load scenarios inside the tank. Passive cooling exists for tanks with a low spent fuel fill level with heat load below 25 kW up to a tank containing a full PBMR core (used fuel) with heat load of 640 kW. For all scenarios, the maximum fuel temperature is below 400 °C.A method was developed to calculate the passive cooling characteristics of the tank at a fraction of the time it takes CFD by using the pipe network simulation software Flownex. The method was also used to analyze transient passive cooling events and showed flow phenomenon similar to what CFD analyses have predicted.A small-scale two-dimensional representation of the storage tank and cubicle layout has been built. This experiment demonstrates the passive cooling ability of the tank. It also proved the flow characteristics that were predicted by the CFD and Flownex analyses.It has been shown through diverse techniques that the fuel inside the tanks can be cooled passively. There are still a few aspects which need to be explored in more detail, but overall it can be said that passive cooling of the PBMR spent and used fuel in bulk storage tanks is viable.     

Numerical and experimental studies of Electra's scalloped transmission foil cooling with small impinging jets

The 5 Hz rep-rate operation of the Electra KrF laser necessitates the cooling and protection of the transmission foil that is subject to the pulsating electron beam bombardment. The pulsed volumetric heating from the e-beam attenuation heats up the foil (～2.54 × 10^?5 m thick) rapidly and often causes the foil to fail, increasing the operation cost and down time for the laser. Various methods have been investigated forheat transfer enhancement. While elevated heat transfer was achieved, the previous methods assume a flat foil shape. The actual foil shape is scalloped due to the pressure difference across the foil during the laser operation. Also a new “scalloped” foil design was proposed for thermal stress reduction. This paper investigates the applicability of small locally impinging jets to cooling the scalloped-shaped foil. The jets were formed through a line of small circular openings on two stainless-steel jet tubes aligned with the foil edges having the two columns of jets impinging on the foil obliquely in a staggered pattern for improved coverage. CFD simulations were used to optimize jet configurations. Experiments were performed that utilize a scalloped foil strip which matched the foil shape between two neighboring supporting ribs in the Electra hibachi. Jet diameters and jet velocities were varied at a surface heat flux greater than 20.0 kW/m². Substantial heat transfer enhancement with impinging jets was observed. Average Nusselt numbers were correlated with jet Reynolds number and the normalized jet-to-foil distance. The study indicates that the impinging jets can effectively enhance heat transfer for the scalloped foil and can be a promising method for actual foil coolingof KrF lasers, including Electra.     

Progress of He-cooled divertor development for DEMO

A He-cooled divertor concept for DEMO [1] has been developed at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) since a couple of years with the goal of reaching a heat flux of 10 MW/m² anticipated for DEMO. The reference concept HEMJ (He-cooled modular divertor with multiple-jet cooling) is based on the use of small cooling fingers – each composed of a tungsten tile brazed to a tungsten alloy thimble – as well as on impingement jet cooling with helium at 10 MPa, 600 °C. The cooling fingers are connected to the main structure of ODS Eurofer steel by brazing in combination with a mechanical interlock. This paper reports progress to date of the design accompanying R&Ds, i.e. primarily the fabrication technology and HHF experiments. For the latter a combined helium loop and electron beam facility (200 kW, 40 keV) at Efremov Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia, has been used. This facility enables mock-up testing at a nominal helium inlet temperature of 600 °C, a pressure of 10 MPa, and a maximal pressure head of 0.5 MPa. HHF test results till now confirm well the divertor design performance. In the recent test series in early 2010 the first breakthrough was achieved when a mock-up has survived over 1000 cycles at 10 MW/m² unscathed.     

CFD simulations of light gas release and mixing in the Battelle Model-Containment with CFX

In this validation work two turbulence models (k– and SST model) and two grids (a finer hybrid grid and a tetrahedral coarser grid) are considered in order to model helium release and dispersion. Simulation results are compared against an experiment of jet release phenomena in the Battelle Model Containment facility (BMC), a multi-compartment facility with a total volume of about 560 m³. In the selected test, HYJET Jx7, helium was released into the containment at a speed of 42 m/s over a time of 200 s. Although the k– model is the most commonly used turbulence model in most Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) applications, it does not provide the most accurate predictions for this application. Alternatively the SST turbulence model has been employed giving more accurate results. This investigation provides a further confirmation that the validation of commercial CFD codes is always required in order to select the more suitable physical models and computational grids for each specific application.     

Helium-implanted CLAM steel and evolutionary behavior of defects investigated by positron-annihilation spectroscopy

China Low Activation Martensitic (CLAM) steel has been chosen as the primary candidate structural material for the first wall/blanket for fusion reactor. The excessive helium irradiation induced damage of CLAM steel at high temperatures and the evolution of defects were investigated in this paper. The samples were homogeneously implanted with 1e + 17 ions/cm² and 100 keV of helium at room temperature, 473, 673, and 873 K. Irradiation induced damage of CLAM steel and the annealing behavior of defects were probed by slow positron beam Doppler broadening technique. Helium implantation produced a large number of vacancy-type defects which bound with helium and formed helium–vacancy complexes. Target atoms’ displacement capacity was strengthened with rising irradiation temperatures, so the S parameter increased with increasing irradiation temperatures, and helium–vacancy complexes were main defects after helium implantation at damage layers. Helium bubbles would be unstable and the desorption of helium bubbles would promote the density of defects above 673 K. By analyzing the curves of S–W and annealing tests of irradiated specimen, it suggested that there werenot only one type of defect in damage layers. Though helium–vacancy complexes were primary defects after helium implanted, introducing excessive helium might also generated other point defects or dislocation loops in the material.     

TEM analysis of high temperature annealed W nanostructure surfaces

Helium plasma irradiation and electron heating experiments were conducted using tungsten in the divertor simulator NAGDIS-II. Helium plasma irradiation to tungsten led to the formation of nanostructures on the surface, while the nanostructures were annihilated after the potential of the specimen was changed to positive for several 10 min so that electrons irradiated the sample without ion irradiation. The specimens were analyzed in detail by transmission electron microscope with the help of focused ion beam technique. It is revealed that the helium nano-bubbles still remained even after the nanostructures were disappeared from the surface. Porosity of the nanostructured tungsten was measured from the TEM images.     

Hydraulics and heat transfer in the IFMIF liquid lithium target: CFD calculations

CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) calculation turns out to be a good approximation to the real behavior of the lithium (Li) flow of the target of the international fusion materials irradiation facility (IFMIF). A three-dimensional (3D) modelling of the IFMIF design Li target assembly, made with the CFD commercial code ANSYS-FLUENT has been carried out. The simulation by a structural mesh is focused on the thermal-hydraulic analysis inside the Li jet flow. For, this purpose, the two deuteron beams energy deposition profile is modelled as an energy source term inside the volume of liquid affected. Turbulence is estimated using the RNG k– model, and a surface-tracking technique applied to a fixed Eulerian mesh called volume of fluid (VOF) is used to determine the position of the free surface. Calculations varying the jet velocity from a range of 10–20 m/s, show that maximum calculated temperatures are still below the lithium's boiling point, due to the increase of the pressure induced by centrifugal force.     

A subcooled boiling heat transfer predictive model for ITER EHF FW designs

Recent experimental data from the ITER critical heat flux (CHF) mock-ups was used to benchmark a 3D CFD code concerning subcooled boiling heat transfer for high heat flux removal. The predicted temperatures show good agreement with experimental measurements for a range of operating parameters and of cooling configurations. Specifically, it applies to a hypervapotron channel exposed to a 5 MW/m² surface heat load and cooled by velocity of 2 m/s. Such flow geometry and operating condition seem necessary for ITER-enhanced heat flux first wall modules if an adequate design margin in CHF is needed. A detailed CFD and heat transfer analysis performed on a prototyped CAD model provided a higher confidence on the design and is deemed a desirable feature for continued design exploration and optimization processes. This is particularly crucial in regard to flow distribution among the FW fingers.     

Conceptual design and analysis of a passive residual heat removal system for a 10 MW molten salt reactor experiment

A conceptual design of a passive residual heat removal system was developed for a 10 MW molten salt reactor experiment (MSRE) designed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The principle, main components and design parameters of the system were presented, and thermal-hydraulic behaviors, such as natural circulation and heat removal ability, were numerically analyzed in the code of C++, especially for the bayonet cooling thimbles. The results show that the system can effectively remove decay heat in the molten salt in an MSRE and has a heat removal rate that approximates to the decay heat generation rate, thus causing the temperature of the molten salt to decrease steadily. The width of the gas gap in the bayonet cooling thimbles has little effect on either the heat exchange or the natural circulation inside the thimbles, while the width of the steam riser, in spite of its slight effect on the heat transfer of the system, greatly influences the natural circulation. With the width of the steam riser increase from 3.6 to 5.1 mm, the mass flow rate increases from 1.9 kg/s to 4.79 kg/s. Finally, three operational schemes were proposed for the passive residual heat removal system, among which that of reducing the bayonet cooling thimbles by three-quarters had the best comprehensive performance.     

Development of a plasma driven permeation experiment for TPE

Experiments on retention of hydrogen isotopes (including tritium) at temperatures less than 800 °C have been carried out in the Tritium Plasma Experiment (TPE) at Idaho National Laboratory [1], [2]. To provide a direct measurement of plasma driven permeation in plasma facing materials at temperatures reaching 1000 °C, a new TPE membrane holder has been built to hold test specimens (≤1 mm in thickness) at high temperature while measuring tritium permeating through the membrane from the plasma facing side. This measurement is accomplished by employing a carrier gas that transports the permeating tritium from the backside of the membrane to ion chambers giving a direct measurement of the plasma driven tritium permeation rate. Isolation of the membrane cooling and sweep gases from TPE's vacuum chamber has been demonstrated by sealing tests performed up to 1000 °C of a membrane holder design that provides easy change out of membrane specimens between tests. Simulations of the helium carrier gas which transports tritium to the ion chamber indicate a very small pressure drop (∼700 Pa) with good flow uniformity (at 1000 sccm). Thermal transport simulations indicate that temperatures up to 1000 °C are expected at the highest TPE fluxes.     

Development of control technology for HTTR hydrogen production system with mock-up test facility: System controllability test for loss of chemical reaction

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been planning the demonstration test of hydrogen production with the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR). In a HTTR hydrogen production system (HTTR-H2), it is required to control a primary helium temperature within an allowable value at a reactor inlet to prevent a reactor scram. A cooling system for a secondary helium with a steam generator (SG) and a radiator is installed at the downstream of a chemical rector in a secondary helium loop in order to mitigate the thermal disturbance caused by the hydrogen production system. Prior to HTTR-H2, the simulation test with a mock-up test facility has been carried out to establish the controllability on the helium temperature using the cooling system against the loss of chemical reaction. It was confirmed that the fluctuations of the helium temperature at chemical reactor outlet, more than 200 K, at the loss of chemical reaction could be successfully mitigated within the target of ±10 K at SG outlet. A dynamic simulation code of the cooling system for HTTR-H2 was verified with the obtained test data.