Solidification and melting behaviors and characteristics of molten salt in cold filling pipe

The solidification and melting phenomena and performances of molten salt during cold filling process in a straight pipe are numerically investigated using volume of fluid model. As the molten salt is filled into a cold pipe, the molten salt adjacent to the cold wall is rapidly cooled, and the solidification phenomena appears. After the whole pipe is filled, the solidification layer begins to melt by high temperature fluid heating. Because of the solidification layer, the flow section obviously shrinks, and the pressure loss remarkably increases. During the solidification and melting processes, the fluid temperature in the region with phase change only varies near the freezing point, and it quickly rises after the melting process. Because of the absorption or release of latent heat, the boundary heat flux of molten salt is increased in the solidification region, while it will be decreased in the melting region. As the inlet temperature rises, the pressure loss apparently decreases with the thickness of solidification layer decreasing. However, when the inlet flow velocity increases, the thickness of solidification layer decreases, but the flow resistance without phase change increases, so the pressure loss has a maximum at moderate flow velocity.     

太阳能热发电站熔盐储罐首次充盐策略研究

通过计算流体动力学(CFD)模拟计算分析某实际工程设计阶段的充盐策略参数,对储罐内熔盐温度和储罐壁面温度的影响,通过分析模拟结果后确定在项目具体实施阶段采用预热系统及电加热器系统配合的充盐策略.通过将此充盐策略用于实际商业项目第1次充盐过程,效果良好,储罐整体温度较为均匀,同时也发现在第1次充盐过程中储罐基础存在较为明...     

Effects of mould filling on evolution of the solid–liquid interface during solidification

This work presents a numerical analysis of simultaneous mould filling and phase change for solidification in a two-dimensional rectangular cavity. The role of residual flow strength and temperature gradients within the solidifying domain, caused by the filling process, on the evolution of solidification interface are investigated. An implicit volume of fluid (VOF)-based algorithm has been employed for simulating the free surface flows during the filling process, while the model for solidification is based on a fixed-grid enthalpy-based control volume approach. Solidification modeling is coupled with VOF through User Defined Functions developed in the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT 6.3.26. Comparison between results of the conventional analysis without filling effect and those of the present analysis shows that the residual flow resulting from the filling process significantly influences the progress of the solidification interface. A parametric study is also performed with variables such as cooling rate, filling velocity and filling configuration, in order to investigate the coupled effects of the buoyancy-driven flow and the residual flow on the solidification behavior.     

Experimental investigation of a molten salt thermocline storage tank

Thermal energy storage is considered as an important subsystem for solar thermal power stations. Investigations into thermocline storage tanks have mainly focused on numerical simulations because conducting high-temperature experiments is difficult. In this paper, an experimental study of the heat transfer characteristics of a molten salt thermocline storage tank was conducted by using high-temperature molten salt as the heat transfer fluid and ceramic particle as the filler material. This experimental study can verify the effectiveness of numerical simulation results and provide reference for engineering design. Temperature distribution and thermal storage capacity during the charging process were obtained. A temperature gradient was observed during the charging process. The temperature change tendency showed that thermocline thickness increased continuously with charging time. The slope of the thermal storage capacity decreased gradually with the increase in time. The low-cost filler material can replace the expensive molten salt to achieve thermal storage purposes and help to maintain the ideal gravity flow or piston flow of molten salt fluid.     

Heat Transfer Characteristics of Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide and Molten Salt

Molten salt and supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO_2) are important high temperature heat transfer media,but molten salt/S-CO_2 heat exchanger has been seldom reported.In present paper,heat transfer in printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) with molten salt and S-CO_2 is simulated and analyzed.Since S-CO_2 can be drove along passage wall by strong buoyancy force with large density difference,its heat transfer is enhanced by natural convection.In inlet region,natural convection weakens along flow direction with decreasing Richardson number,and the thermal boundary layer becomes thicker,so local heat transfer coefficient of S-CO_2 significantly decreases.In outlet region,turbulent kinetic energy gradually increases,and then heat transfer coefficient increases for turbulent heat transfer enhancement.Compared with transcritical CO_2 with lower inlet temperature,local heat transfer coefficient of S-CO_2 near inlet is lower for smaller Richardson number,while it will be higher for larger turbulent kinetic energy near outlet.Performance of PCHE is mainly determined by the pressure drop in molten salt passage and the heat transfer resistance in S-CO_2 passage.When molten salt passage width increases,molten salt pressure drop significantly decreases,and overall heat transfer coefficient slightly changes,so the comprehensive performance of PCHE is improved.As a result,PCHE unit with three semicircular passages and one semi-elliptic passage has better performance.     

Analytical solution of Graetz problem in pipe flow with periodic inlet temperature variation

The paper reports an analytical solution for the temperature field in a fully developed pipe flow subject to periodic (of any shape) inlet temperature variation. The solution is given in term of a series of Kummer functions for the cases of uniform and constant wall temperature and wall heat flux, thus comprising also the adiabatic wall case. A “fully developed” region for the fluctuating component of the fluid temperature is also evidenced and closed-form solutions are given. An interpretation of the temperature field as superposition of travelling thermal waves is presented and discussed.     

分离式热管小螺旋管蒸发段换热特性的实验研究

将小螺旋管应用于分离式热管的蒸发段。通过采用玻璃管和不锈钢管模拟分离式热管的蒸发段,对不同充液率和热流密度下,小螺旋管管内流体的流动与换热特性进行了实验研究。通过可视化实验观察小螺旋管蒸发段管内流型,初步分析热流密度和充液率对流型转换的影响,讨论壁温分布与管内两相流流型的关系。提出螺旋管内的脉冲震荡和二次回流使得管内流体的紊动强化,从而使平均换热系数和临界热流密度得以提高,不会产生壁温飞升,具有较好安全性的结论。     

Investigation on no-vent filling process of liquid hydrogen tank under microgravity condition

In order to investigate the no-vent filling performance under microgravity, the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) method is introduced to the study, where a model aiming at filling a liquid hydrogen (LH₂) receiver tank is especially established. In this model, the solid and fluid regions are considered together to predict the coupled heat transfer process. The phase change effect during the filling process is also taken into account by embedding a pair of mass and heat transfer models into the CFD software FLUENT, one of which involves liquid flash driven by pressure difference between the fluid saturated pressure and the tank pressure, and the other one indicates and calculates the evaporation–condensation process driven by temperature difference between fluid and its saturated state. This CFD model, verified by experimental data, could accurately simulate the no-vent filling process with good flexibility. Moreover, no-vent filling processes under different gravities are comparatively analyzed and the effects of four factors including inlet configuration, inlet liquid temperature, initial wall temperature and inlet flow rate, are discussed, respectively. Main conclusions could be made as follows: 1) Compared to the situations in normal gravity, the no-vent filling in microgravity experiences a more adequate liquid–vapor mix, which results in a more steady pressure response and better filling performance. 2) Inlet configuration seems to have negligible effect on the no-vent filling performance under microgravity since liquid could easily reach the tank wall and then cause a sufficient fluid-wall contact under any inlet condition. 3) Higher initial tank wall temperature may directly cause a higher pressure rise in the beginning, while this effect on the final pressure is not significant. Sufficient precooling and reasonable inlet liquid subcooled degree are suggested to guarantee the reliability and efficiency of the no-vent fill under microgravity.     

表面活性剂对水工质超长重力热管传热性能的影响

超长重力热管是近年来被提出的用于干热岩地热能开采的一种新技术.该技术方案通过工质的沸腾?冷凝相变来进行热量传输从而在地面获得地下数千米深的热量,突破了常规热管的热力输运距离.表面活性剂能降低液体的表面张力,从而改变液体工质的沸腾特性,能在一定程度上提升常规热管的热力性能,但在超长重力热管中的作用仍有待研究.本文在自行搭...     

换热工质参数对熔盐蒸汽发生系统性能的影响研究

蒸汽发生系统(steam generation system,SGS)是塔式太阳能热发电站的重要组成部分。采用仿真模拟软件Thermoflex对塔式太阳能热发电站的熔盐SGS进行了建模,并基于实际工程数据验证了所搭建模型的准确性。以此为基础,仿真研究了熔盐SGS的换热工质参数(给水温度、主蒸汽温度、主蒸汽压力)对熔盐SGS性能的影响,其中,水侧温度和压力的变化对熔盐侧参数(熔盐流量、熔盐SGS出口的熔盐温度)和换热设备的换热功率均存在较大影响。研究得到的不同换热工质参数对熔盐SGS性能和整个塔式太阳能热发电站的影响规律可为熔盐SGS的设计提供理论依据。     

Numerical study of conjugated heat transfer in metal foam filled double-pipe

The two equation numerical model has been applied for parallel flow double-pipe heat exchanger filled with open cell metal foams. The model fully considered solid–fluid conjugated heat transfer process coupling heat conduction and convection in open cell metal foam solid matrix, interface wall and fluid in both inner and annular space in heat exchanger. The non-Darcy effect and the wall thickness are also taken into account. The interface wall heat flux distribution along the axial direction is predicted. The numerical model is firstly verified and then the influences of solid heat conductivity, metal foam porosity, pore density, relative heat conductivity and inner tube radius of the heat exchanger on dimensionless temperature distribution and heat transfer performance of heat exchanger are numerically studied. It is revealed that the proposed numerical model can effectively display the real physical heat transfer process in the double pipe heat exchanger. It is expected to provide useful information for the design of metal foam filled heat exchanger.     

Numerical Modeling of the Solidification Phase Change in a Pipe and Evaluation of the Effect of Boundary Conditions

A numerical solution to a two-dimensional model of flow and transient heat transfer involving solidi- fication in a pipe has been established. Where the temperature of pipe wall is below the freezing point of fluid, phase change of flowing fluid and the influence of different boundary condition, such as pipe wall temperature, initial temperature and inlet velocity has been taken into account. Also it has been investigated to elicit proper non-dimensional numbers to show the solidification proceeding results. Additionally comparing the two acceptable inlet conditions, show distinctions between velocity inlet and pressure inlet boundary condition in such problems, which affect the whole freezing process.     

Analysis and application of variable conductance heat pipe air preheater

The heat transfer analysis of variable conductance heat pipe air preheater was carried out. The temperature trans-fer matrix was obtained for the air preheater that comprises several discrete heat transfer units with same or different heat transfer surface area in a parallel or counter flow mode. By using the temperature transfer matrix, the outlet fluid temperatures could be easily calculated for a given air preheater and inlet fluid temperatures. The active length of condenser in a variable conductance heat pipe is determined according to the flat interface model. With the same initial conditions, the comparisons between variable conductance heat-pipe air preheater and regular heat pipe air preheater has been analyzed and tested in terms of heat pipe wall temperature, heat transfer surface area and outlet fluid temperatures. Based on the real industrial applications, it has been confirmed that the variable conductance heat pipe air preheater has excellent performance of anti-corrosion and anti-ash-deposition especially at the variable working condition and the sulfur coal (5%-6% mass fraction of sulfur) condition.     

Bulk Fluid Temperature and Pipe Wall Temperature May Be Different Depending upon the Bulk Fluid

When trying to determine the bulk temperature of a process stream, engineers must take care to determine whether measuring the pipe wall temperature will give a reasonable approximation of the bulk temperature. If the pipe wall temperature will not give a reasonable approximation of the bulk fluid temperature, further calculations must be performed.     

An experimental study: Thermal performance of molten salt cavity receivers

In solar power plants, a molten salt receiver always works in unsteady state conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to research the thermal performance of a receiver in an unsteady state condition. For this purpose, an indoor testing system with a molten salt cavity receiver was developed. Experimental research was conducted to determine the thermal performance of a 100 kWt molten salt receiver. The effect of the input power and flow rate on the thermal performance of the receiver was investigated. In addition, a simple unsteady model was established to research the characteristics of the variation of the internal energy of the receiver and the characteristics of the heat loss. The results indicated that the efficiency of the receiver was in direct proportion to the flow rate. However, the influence was small. In the initial stage of the transient process, the increments of the internal energy of the receiver and the fluid were large (approximately 20% in the energy which is not removed by the mass flow of the fluid). Over time, the thermal inertia of the receiver decreased with the transient process. As a result, any energy not taken away by the fluid was transformed into heat loss.     

A literature review on some engineering issues of high temperature molten salt thermal energy storage systems

高温熔盐蓄热单元对平衡太阳能热发电过程中的能量供求和延长日落后的发电时间有着不可替代的作用,并已经成为现代太阳能热发电站中的一个不可或缺的子系统。本文作者结合所在重点实验室的850 ℃的二元碳酸优态盐高温熔盐蓄热实验系统的安装与操作经验,讨论了高温熔融盐蓄热系统中常见的一些工程问题,包括熔盐输送管道的连接、熔盐回路的预防凝固和加热保温、熔盐的充装与排放、熔盐长轴泵、事故工况的研究和预防等。     

Experimental study on the heat transfer characteristics of fluoride salt in the new conceptual passive heat removal system of molten salt reactor

A new conceptual design of a passive residual heat removal system (PRHRS) has been proposed for molten salt reactor. High‐temperature heat pipes are used in this new design to improve the system inherent safety and make the PRHRS more compact. An experimental system using fluoride salt FLiNaK has been constructed to validate and support the future design of PRHRS of molten salt reactors. In this research, tests on the natural convection heat transfer of FLiNaK in the drain tank with an inclined heat pipe inserted at different heights were performed. The temperature distribution of fluoride salt in the tank was analyzed. The height of heat pipe and the bulk temperature of FLiNaK have little influence on the normalized salt temperature distribution. However, with the height of heat pipe increasing, the temperature difference of molten salt decreases and heat transfer coefficient of natural convection increases. In addition, the empirical correlations of natural convection heat transfer between liquid FLiNaK and inclined heat pipe are obtained within the range of Rayleigh numbers from 3.97 × 10⁶ to 1.16 × 10⁷. The comparisons show that a good agreement with less than 5% deviation is obtained between the proposed correlations and the test data.     

Heat transfer performance and exergetic optimization for solar receiver pipe

The basic physical model of solar receiver pipe with solar selective coating is established, and associated heat transfer and exergetic performances are analyzed and optimized. Because of the heat losses of natural convection and infrared radiation, the energy absorption efficiency has a maximum at optimal incident energy flux. As the pipe radius decreases or flow velocity rises, the wall temperature drops for higher heat transfer coefficient, while the heat absorption efficiency increases. Along the flow direction, the heat absorption efficiency almost linearly decreases, while the exergetic efficiency will first increase and then decrease. As the inlet temperature rises, the heat absorption efficiency of the solar receiver pipe decreases, while the exergetic efficiency of absorbed energy obviously increases, so the exergetic efficiency of incident energy will reach maximum at the optimal inlet temperature. Additionally, the maximum exergetic efficiency of incident energy and optimal inlet temperature both increase with flow velocity.     

聚光太阳能吸热管的吸热传热特性

基于太阳能选择性吸收涂层的辐射性能,建立聚光太阳能吸热管光热耦合传输的数理模型,理论研究聚光太阳能吸热管的吸热传热特性。研究表明,吸热管壁温度随着聚光能流密度增加而线性升高,而吸热效率在中等聚光能流密度时达最大值。太阳能选择性吸收涂层性能对吸热传热有重要影响,具有低红外发射系数涂层的系统吸热效率明显较高,而红外辐射能量损失率则在中等聚光能流密度时最小。管内强迫对流可以显著提高吸热管效能,吸热效率随流速增加而提高,而管壁温度则显著下降。     

Numerical simulation of mixed convective heat transfer of a molten salt in a square tube with a thermally conductive wall

熔盐因具有传热能力强、工作温度高、使用温度广、系统压力低、经济适用等优点,成为太阳能热发电系统蓄热工质的理想选择。熔盐在实际应用中会因加热过程的非均匀性产生存在于固体表面和流体间的温差,造成流体工质中的密度梯度,因此出现重力导致的浮升力效应,其叠加到主流流动方向上即形成混合对流。管壁导热会对熔盐混合对流传热过程产生一定的影响。本文对熔盐在水平方管内非均匀加热条件下的单面加热的混合对流过程进行了数值模拟研究,在考虑壁厚的情况下研究了方管单面加热熔盐混合对流传热特性,分析了无量纲参数间的变化关系,并将结果与流型判定图和经典关联式进行对比。结果表明,非均匀加热时,浮升力效应会造成随流动距离增加主流核心区域的形状发生改变,且更加靠近加热壁面。Nu数随Re数、Ri数的增大而增大,局部Nu_x数随流动距离的深入先减小后增大。与忽略管壁导热数值模拟结果相比,主流核心区形状更加均匀,局部Nu_x更高且回升位置更加提前,流动特性和传热特性基本保持一致。