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Title: Comparative analysis of compact heat exchangers for application as the intermediate heat exchanger for advanced nuclear reactors

Journal Article · · Annals of Nuclear Energy (Oxford)
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States)
  2. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
  3. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
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A comparative evaluation of alternative compact heat exchanger designs for use as the intermediate heat exchanger in advanced nuclear reactor systems is presented in this article. Candidate heat exchangers investigated included the Printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) and offset strip-fin heat exchanger (OSFHE). Both these heat exchangers offer high surface area to volume ratio (a measure of compactness [m2/m3]), high thermal effectiveness, and overall low pressure drop. Helium–helium heat exchanger designs for different heat exchanger types were developed for a 600 MW thermal advanced nuclear reactor. The wavy channel PCHE with a 15° pitch angle was found to offer optimum combination of heat transfer coefficient, compactness and pressure drop as compared to other alternatives. The principles of the comparative analysis presented here will be useful for heat exchanger evaluations in other applications as well.

Research Organization:
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC07-05ID14517
OSTI ID:
1188614
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1250060
Report Number(s):
INL/JOU-15-35644; TRN: US1500527
Journal Information:
Annals of Nuclear Energy (Oxford), Vol. 81; ISSN 0306-4549
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 54 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (6)

Sinusoidal wavy channels with Taylor-Goertler vortices journal October 1995
Compact Heat Exchangers in Practice book January 2001
Printed circuit heat exchanger thermal–hydraulic performance in supercritical CO2 experimental loop journal August 2006
Physical model development and optimal design of PCHE for intermediate heat exchangers in HTGRs journal February 2012
Heat transfer and pressure drop correlations for the rectangular offset strip fin compact heat exchanger journal February 1995
Promising designs of compact heat exchangers for modular HTRs using the Brayton cycle journal November 2008

Cited By (3)

Thermal stress analysis of printed circuit heat exchanger based on thermal-structural coupling method journal January 2020
Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Characteristics in Straight Microchannel of Printed Circuit Heat Exchangers journal May 2015
The volume-based properties for dimensional analysis of micro heat exchanger journal August 2019

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