Fabrication and Design Aspects of High-Temperature Compact Diffusion Bonded Heat Exchangers
- Ohio State University
- ORNL
The very high temperature reactor (VHTR), using gas-cooled reactor technology, is one of the six reactor concepts selected by the Generation IV International Forum and is anticipated to be the reactor type for the next generation nuclear plant (NGNP). In this type of reactor with an indirect power cycle system, a high-temperature and high integrity intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) with high effectiveness is required to efficiently transfer the core thermal output to secondary fluid for electricity production, process heat, or hydrogen cogeneration. The current Technology Readiness Level status issued by NGNP to all components associated with the IHX for reactor core outlet temperatures of 750-800oC is 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most ready. At present, there is no proven high-temperature IHX concept for VHTRs. Amongst the various potential IHX concepts available, diffusion bonded heat exchangers (henceforth called printed circuit heat exchangers, or PCHEs) appear promising for NGNP applications. The design and fabrication of this key component of NGNP is the primary focus of this paper. In the current study, two PCHEs were fabricated using Alloy 617 plates and will be experimentally investigated for their thermal-hydraulic performance in a high-temperature helium test facility (HTHF). The HTHF was primarily designed and constructed to test the thermal-hydraulic performance of PCHEs The test facility is primarily of Alloy 800H construction and is designed to facilitate experiments at temperatures and pressures up to 800oC and 3 MPa, respectively. The PCHE fabrication related processes, i.e., photochemical machining and diffusion bonding are briefly discussed for Alloy 617 plates. Diffusion bonding of Alloy 617 plates with and without a Ni interlayer is discussed. Furthermore, preliminary microstructural and mechanical characterization studies of representative diffusion bonded Alloy 617 specimens are presented.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1042769
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 249; ISSN 0029-5493
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALLOYS
BONDING
COGENERATION
CONSTRUCTION
DESIGN
DIFFUSION
ELECTRICITY
FABRICATION
GAS COOLED REACTORS
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HELIUM
HYDROGEN
INCOLOY 800H
MACHINING
PERFORMANCE
PLATES
PRINTED CIRCUITS
PROCESS HEAT
PRODUCTION
REACTOR CORES