Numerical study of thermal-hydraulic and dust-deposition of tube bundles in an intermediate heat exchanger

Abstract

Very-high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (VHTRs) are promising for efficient, zero-carbon hydrogen production. The intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) is a key piece of equipment for VHTR-coupled hydrogen production. Constrained by the limited space within the VHTR, the IHX must be efficient and compact. Besides, radioactive graphite dust deposition will reduce the performance and reliability of IHXs. Therefore, understanding the thermal-hydraulic and dust-deposition characteristics of IHX tube bundles is crucial for the design and safe operation of IHXs. This study uses the unsteady k-kl-ω model to simulate flow and heat transfer in IHX tube bundles. The discrete particle model combined with a deposition model is used to predict the movement and deposition behavior of graphite dust. The deposition model is achieved using user-defined functions. The model and code are first validated by empirical correlations and experimental results. The transient flow fields show that, in the in-line arrangement, unsteady and asymmetric periodic flow occurs with a period of about 0.047 s. The flow is steadier and more symmetric in the staggered arrangement due to the restriction of the main flow to the separation vortices. The maximum circumferential heat-transfer coefficient for inner tubes occurs at the impact point, where the central angle θ is about 60° and 0° for the in-line and staggered arrangement, respectively. The graphite-dust deposition rate decreases with increasing Reynolds number and particle size and the deposition mechanism is also analyzed in detail. With the current design conditions, the Nusselt number of the staggered arrangement increases by 27.90%–29.17% compared with the in-line arrangement, and the deposition rate decreases by 1.52%–3.15%. Furthermore, new correlations for Nusselt number and friction factor are developed for the thermal-hydraulic design of IHX tube bundles.