Investigation on transient thermal hydraulics of reduced scale passive residual heat removal heat exchanger in tank

Abstract In advanced nuclear power plant AP1000, the passive residual heat removal heat exchanger (PRHR HX) is a key part of the passive safety system. It can transfer decay heat from the reactor core to the water in the in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST) during the accidents. The secure operation of the C-shaped PRHR HX has a great impact on the reactor safety. In the present work, the heat transfer performance of a reduced scale PRHR HX was investigated by experiments and numerical simulations. A system including a 6 × 7 C-shaped tube bundle and a rectangular tank was studied. A three-dimensional numerical model using porous media method was developed to explore the transient single phase thermal hydraulic characteristics of the PRHR HX. The distributed resistances caused by the C-shaped tube bundle were calculated by empirical correlations. Both the heat transfer coefficients from the hot fluid in the tube to the inside surface of tube and that from the outer tube surface to the water in the IRWST were calculated by empirical correlations published in literatures. Tests were performed on the 6 × 7 C-shaped tube bundle installed in the middle of the tank. The outer wall temperature and bulk water temperature in the tank were measured by thermocouples. The numerical methods were validated by the experimental results. The calculated results of the local temperature distribution and heat transfer rate were both well consistent with the experimental values. The deviation of the heat transfer rate was smaller than 5%.