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Numerical and theoretical investigations of heat transfer characteristics in helium–xenon cooled microreactor core

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Abstract

Helium–xenon cooled microreactors are a vital technological solution for portable nuclear reactor power sources. To examine the convective heat transfer behavior of helium–xenon gas mixtures in a core environment, numerical simulations are conducted on a cylindrical coolant channel and its surrounding solid regions. Validated numerical methods are used to determine the effect and mechanisms of power and its distribution, inlet temperature and velocity, and outlet pressure on the distribution and change trend of the axial Nusselt number. Furthermore, a theoretical framework that can describe the effect of power variation on the evolution of the thermal boundary layer is employed to formulate an axial distribution correlation for the Nusselt number of the coolant channel, under the assumption of a cosine distribution for the axial power. Based on the simulation results, the correlation coefficients are determined, and a semi-empirical relationship is identified under the corresponding operating conditions. The correlation derived in this study is consistent with the simulations, with an average relative error of 5.3% under the operating conditions. Finally, to improve the accuracy of the predictions near the entrance, a segmented correlation is developed by combining the Kays correlation with the aforementioned correlation. The new correlation reduces the average relative error to 2.9% and maintains satisfactory accuracy throughout the entire axial range of the channel, thereby demonstrating its applicability to turbulent heat transfer calculations for helium–xenon gas mixtures within the core environment. These findings provide valuable insights into the convective heat transfer behavior of a helium–xenon gas mixture in a core environment.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Science Data Bank at https://www.doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.10957 and https://cstr.cn/31253.11.sciencedb.10957.

Abbreviations

A :

Cross-sectional area of coolant channel (m2)

a n :

Coefficients in Eq. 13

C :

Constant in Eq. 1

C p :

Specific heat at constant pressure (J/(kg·K))

e :

Constant in Pickett’s correlation

F n :

Coefficients in series expansion of wall temperature

f :

Friction factor

G :

Radial variation of fully developed temperature profile

h :

Convective heat transfer coefficient (W/(m2⋅K))

k :

Thermal conductivity (W/(m·K))

L :

Hydraulic diameter of coolant channel (m)

m :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

Nu :

Nusselt number

ΔNu :

10% Of average Nu obtained in each run

P :

Pressure of standard condition (MPa)

Pr :

Prandtl number

Pe :

Peclet number

Q :

Power of standard condition (W)

q :

Heat flux (W/m2)

Re :

Reynolds number

r 0 + :

Dimensionless coolant channel radius

T :

Inlet temperature of standard condition (K)

t :

Temperature (K)

U :

Velocity of standard condition (m/s)

u :

Velocity (m/s)

z :

Axial distance from inlet (m)

\(\widetilde{z}\) :

Axial distance between end point of integral and inlet (m)

α :

Constant in Eq. 10

β n :

Eigenvalues

γ :

Distance required downstream of first measuring point to observe a decrease in ΔNu

δ :

Distance required upstream of last measuring point to observe an increase in ΔNu

ε :

Eddy diffusivity (m2/s)

μ :

Viscosity (Pa·s)

π :

Circular constant

ρ :

Density (kg/m3)

φ :

Simplified Fn

ω :

Simplified an

avg:

Average

b:

Bulk

cor:

Calculated by correlation

in:

Inlet

m:

Momentum

out:

Outlet

sim:

Calculated via simulation

t:

Turbulent

w:

Wall

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Tian-Shi Wang, Xiang Chai, Chao-Ran Guan, Xin-Yue Liu, Jiao-Long Deng, Hui He & Xiao-Jing Liu

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Tian-Shi Wang, Xiang Chai and Chao-Ran Guan. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Tian-Shi Wang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiang Chai.

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Conflict of interest

Xiao-Jing Liu is an editorial board member for Nuclear Science and Techniques and was not involved in the editorial review, or the decision to publish this article. All authors declare that there are no competing interests.

Additional information

The work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2020YFB1901900), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12275175), the Special Fund for Strengthening Industry of Shanghai (No. GYQJ-2018-2-02), the Shanghai Rising Star Program (No. 21QA1404200), and the Ling Chuang Research Project of the China National Nuclear Corporation.

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Wang, TS., Chai, X., Guan, CR. et al. Numerical and theoretical investigations of heat transfer characteristics in helium–xenon cooled microreactor core. NUCL SCI TECH 34, 162 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-023-01311-2

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