AUTHOR=Liu Hong , Zhang Zhigang , Du Haisu , Cong Tenglong 

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

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Energy Research

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/energy-research/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2022.1041900

DOI=10.3389/fenrg.2022.1041900

ISSN=2296-598X

ABSTRACT=<p>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 <inline-formula id="inf1"><mml:math id="m1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:msub><mml:mi>r</mml:mi><mml:mi>t</mml:mi></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> models and the shear‒stress transport (SST) <inline-formula id="inf2"><mml:math id="m2" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>k</mml:mi><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mi>ω</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> model were evaluated first by using experimental liquid metal data. Then, a suitable <inline-formula id="inf3"><mml:math id="m3" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:msub><mml:mi>r</mml:mi><mml:mi>t</mml:mi></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> 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.</p>