Abstract
A process heat exchanger (PHE) is a key component for transferring the high-temperature heat generated from a very high-temperature reactor (VHTR) to a chemical reaction for the massive production of hydrogen. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has designed and assembled a small-scale nitrogen gas loop for a performance test on VHTR components and has manufactured a small-scale PHE prototype made of Hastelloy-X alloy. A performance test on the PHE prototype is underway in the gas loop, where different kinds of pipelines connecting to the PHE prototype are tested for reducing the thermal stress under the expansion of the PHE prototype. In this study, to evaluate the high-temperature structural integrity of the PHE prototype under the test condition of the gas loop, a realistic and effective boundary condition imposing the stiffness of the pipelines connected to the PHE prototype was suggested. An equivalent spring stiffness to reduce the thermal stress under the expansion of the PHE prototype was computed from the bending deformation and expansion of the pipelines connected to the PHE. A structural analysis on the PHE prototype was also carried out by imposing the suggested boundary condition. As a result of the analysis, the structural integrity of the PHE prototype seems to be maintained under the test condition of the gas loop.
Highlights
Hydrogen is considered a promising future energy solution because it is clean, abundant, and storable and has a highenergy density
Research demonstrating the massive production of hydrogen using a very high-temperature reactor (VHTR) designed for operation at up to 950◦C has been actively carried out worldwide, including in the USA, Japan, France, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) [1, 2]
The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) designed and assembled a small-scale nitrogen gas loop for a performance test of VHTR components and manufactured a small-scale process heat exchanger (PHE) prototype made of Hastelloy-X alloy
Summary
A process heat exchanger (PHE) is a key component for transferring the high-temperature heat generated from a very hightemperature reactor (VHTR) to a chemical reaction for the massive production of hydrogen. A performance test on the PHE prototype is underway in the gas loop, where different kinds of pipelines connecting to the PHE prototype are tested for reducing the thermal stress under the expansion of the PHE prototype. To evaluate the high-temperature structural integrity of the PHE prototype under the test condition of the gas loop, a realistic and effective boundary condition imposing the stiffness of the pipelines connected to the PHE prototype was suggested. A structural analysis on the PHE prototype was carried out by imposing the suggested boundary condition. As a result of the analysis, the structural integrity of the PHE prototype seems to be maintained under the test condition of the gas loop
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