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Numerical investigation on the startup performance of high-temperature heat pipes for heat pipe cooled reactor application

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Abstract

A suitable model for high-temperature heat pipe startup is a prerequisite to realizing the numerical simulation for the heat pipe cooled reactor startup from the cold state. It is required that this model not only describes the transient behavior during the startup period, but also reduces the computing resources of the heat pipe cooled reactor simulation in the simplest way. In this study, a simplified model that integrates the two-zone and network models is proposed. In this model, vapor flow in the vapor space, evaporation, and condensation in the vapor–liquid interface are decoupled with heat conduction to achieve a fast calculation of the transient characteristics of the heat pipe. An experimental system for a high-temperature heat pipe was developed to validate the proposed model. A potassium heat pipe was utilized as the experimental material. Startup experiments were performed with different heating powers. Compared with the experimental results, the accuracy of the proposed model was verified. Moreover, the proposed model can predict the vapor flow, pressure drop, and temperature drop in the vapor space. As indicated by the analysis results, the essential requirements for successful startup are also determined. The heat pipe cannot achieve a successful startup until the heating power satisfies these requirements. All the discussions indicate the capability of the proposed model for the simulation of a high-temperature heat pipe startup from the frozen state; hence, can act as a basic tool for the heat pipe cooled reactor simulation.

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Abbreviations

a :

Thermal diffusion coefficient (m2/s)

A :

Area (m2)

C :

Specific heat capacity (J/(kg·K))

D :

Diameter (m)

f :

Friction coefficient

g :

Gravitational acceleration (m/s2)

h :

Specific enthalpy (J/kg)

k :

Heat conductivity (W/(m k))/Boltzmann constant

L :

Length (m)

P :

Pressure (Pa)

q :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

Q :

Transport power (W)

r :

Radius (m)

R :

Thermal resistance (K/W)/gas constant (J/mol K)

t :

Time (s)

T :

Temperature (K)

v :

Velocity (m/s)

V :

Volume (m3)

\(\alpha\) :

Volume expansion coefficient(K−1)

\(\rho\) :

Density (kg/m3)

\(\mu\) :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa.m)

\(\upsilon\) :

Kinematic viscosity (m2/s)

\(\varepsilon\) :

Porosity

\(\lambda\) :

Convective coefficient (W/(m2·K))

\(\gamma\) :

Specific heat ratio

\(\phi\) :

Inclined angle

hl :

Minimum specific enthalpy of liquid (J/kg)

hs :

Maximum specific enthalpy of solid (J/kg)

Tmp :

Melting temperature (K)

Kn :

Knudsen number

Re :

Reynolds number

Nu :

Nusselt number

Gr :

Grashof number

Pr :

Prandtl number

c:

Capillary

e:

Entrainment

f:

Fluid

h:

Hydraulic

l:

Liquid

m:

Mesh

s:

Sonic limit

w:

Wall region

v:

Vapor

fg:

Phases change between fluid and gas

tr:

Transition temperature

in:

Inner radius

wc:

Wick region

mv:

Mass flow rate of vapor

vi:

Viscous limit

equ:

Equivalent parameter

out:

Outer radius

eff:

Effective length

radial:

Radial direction

axial:

Axial direction

conduct:

Heat conduction

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Yu-Chuan Guo, Zi-Lin Su, Ze-Guang Li & Kan Wang

Authors
  1. Yu-Chuan Guo
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  2. Zi-Lin Su
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  3. Ze-Guang Li
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  4. Kan Wang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the conception and design of the study. Data collection and analyses were performed by Yu-Chuan Guo and Zi-Lin Su. The programming and tests were strongly supported by Ze-Guang Li and Kan Wang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yu-Chuan Guo, and all authors commented on the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ze-Guang Li.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Project of China (No. 2020YFB1901700), Science Challenge Project (No. TZ2018001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11775126 and 11775127), and the Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program.

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Guo, YC., Su, ZL., Li, ZG. et al. Numerical investigation on the startup performance of high-temperature heat pipes for heat pipe cooled reactor application. NUCL SCI TECH 32, 104 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-021-00947-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-021-00947-2

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