Comparisons of High-Temperature Structural Analysis Results on the Medium-Scale PHE Prototype under the Steady-State and Trip Conditions of a Small-Scale Gas Loop

Abstract

PHE (Process Heat Exchanger) is a key component for transferring the high-temperature heat generated from a VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) to a chemical reaction for massive production of hydrogen. Recently, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has manufactured a medium-scale PHE prototype made of Hastelloy-X of high-temperature alloy and a performance test on the PHE prototype is scheduled in a small-scale nitrogen gas loop established at KAERI. In this study, in order to evaluate the high-temperature structural integrity of the PHE prototype under the steady-state and trip conditions of the gas loop before the performance test on the PHE prototype, elastic and elastic-plastic structural analyses on the PHE prototype were carried out and the analyses results were compared each other.