Numerical study on the heat transfer characteristics of a liquid lead–bismuth eutectic in a D-type channel

Abstract

A printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) can offer superior performance in area concentration and heat transfer efficiency. A PCHE with a liquid lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) and supercritical carbon dioxide as working media can use these materials as intermediate heat exchangers in lead–bismuth eutectic-cooled reactors to reduce facility size and improve economy. To ensure the reliability of a numerical simulation for a liquid LBE in PCHE channels, the flow and heat transfer characteristics of a liquid LBE were investigated in a single D-type channel. The existing turbulent Prandtl number (Prt) models and the shear‒stress transport (SST) k−ω model were evaluated first by using experimental liquid metal data. Then, a suitable Prt model was proposed for the numerical simulation of the liquid LBE. Finally, the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the liquid LBE were studied in D-type straight channels and D-type zigzag channels. The study presented the effects of flow velocity, wall heat flux, equivalent diameter and zigzag channel angle on the flow resistance and heat transfer characteristics. Meanwhile, a heat transfer correlation suitable for a D-type straight channel was also proposed. The research results in this paper lay a good foundation for the development of PCHEs with an LBE as the working fluid.

Research Status and Prospect of Liquid Carbon Dioxide Fracturing Technology

“…Research progress on conjugated heat transfer between supercritical carbon dioxide and liquid metals has been discussed in a paper [14] . Additionally, researchers have also reviewed the coupled heat transfer characteristics of supercritical carbon dioxide and liquid lead-bismuth-eutectic in asymmetric compact heat exchange [15] . Improvements in equipment for handling supercritical carbon dioxide involve several key aspects.…”