Investigation of cross-wavy primary surface structures for heat exchangers of Brayton cycle system using argon

Abstract

In order to investigate the performance of the Cross-Wavy (CW) primary surface heat exchanger in Brayton cycle system using argon, a three-dimensional numerical model is established in this paper, and the influence of the structural characteristics of the flow channel on heat transfer and flow is analyzed in depth based on numerical simulation results. Effects of amplitude (A), height (H) and thermal channel radius (R1) on pressure loss, heat transfer and overall performance are further investigated. The results indicate that the increase in A leads to a significant rise in heat transfer performance and energy loss. Compared with the maximum and minimum amplitude simulation results, the increase in the f coefficient can reach 140%, and the increase in Nu is 31.94%. With the increase of H from 1.7 mm to 3.2 mm, f decreases by 18.75% and Nu decreases by 8.07%. Whereas, the change brought about by R1 is very small, less than 2.5%. By comparing the f coefficients with the experimental results of the biconvex stamped plate heat exchanger, the feasibility of the CW primary surface heat exchanger for application in a micro nuclear power system is verified.