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Experimental Investigation of the Thermal Hydraulics in Lead Bismuth Eutectic-Helium Experimental Loop of an Accelerator-Driven System
Author: Xi Wenxuan | Print | Close | Text Size: A A A | 2017-11-22

The heat transfer characteristics between liquid lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) and helium are of great significance for the two-loop cooling system based on an accelerator-driven system (ADS). This paper presents an experimental study on the resistance characteristics and heat transfer performance in a LBE-helium experimental loop of ADS. Pressure drops in the LBE loop, the main heat transfer, and the coupled heat transfer characteristics between LBE and helium are investigated experimentally. The temperature of LBE has a significant effect on the LBE thermo-physical properties, and is therefore considered in the prediction of pressure drops. The results show that the overall heat transfer coefficient increases with the increasing helium flow rate and the decreasing inlet temperature of helium. Increasing the LBE Reynolds number and LBE inlet temperature promotes the heat transfer performance of main heat transfer and thus the overall heat transfer coefficient. The experimental results give an insight into the flow and heat transfer properties in a LBE-helium heat exchanger and are helpful for the optimization of an ADS system design.

 

Conclusion

In this study, we successfully designed and constructed the LBE-helium experimental loop of ADS. Then, we made a detailed analysis on the flow resistance and heat transfer characteristics of the LBE-helium loop of ADS. The main conclusions are as follows.

(1) Pressure drops of the pipeline predicted by Moody correlation are more accurate, especially under a higher temperature level. It is necessary to consider the roughness of the commercial pipeline when the pressure drops are calculated by correlations.

(2) In MHX, the tube side pressure drop predicted by Nikuradse-Karman correlation is more accurate in contrast with Gu et al. correlation. The deviations between the calculated results and experimental data are caused by the gravity pressure drop. The LBE temperature has a remarkable effect on the thermo-physical properties of LBE, such as viscosity, thermal conductivity, and density. The characteristic temperature must be selected carefully for the accuracy of measurements and calculations.

(3) For the shell side of helium, the overall heat transfer coefficient of MHX increases with the increasing helium flow rate, and decreases with the inlet temperature increasing. For the tube side, the heat transfer coefficient of MHX is increased with the increasing of both the LBE Reynolds number and LBE inlet temperature.

 

The results have been published on NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY 48 (2016) 1154-1161.

 

 
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