Parametric analysis of heat transfer rate of passive residual heat removal heat exchanger submerged in water tank

The heat transfer performance of a miniaturized passive residual heat removal heat exchanger (PRHR HX) is experimentally investigated. It comprises 42 C-shaped tubes, submerged in a water tank that has a height of 6 m. The average heat flux is measured for various values of the working pressure and mass flow rate of the water inside the tubes. The pressure varies from 5 MPa to 15 MPa, the mass flux varies from 95 kg/(m2 s) to 320 kg/(m2 s), and the inlet temperature varies up to 300 °C. Moreover, the distribution of the heat flux along the tube is analyzed using empirical correlations available in the literature. The predicted heat removal rate of the tubes is in a good agreement with the measured value; the discrepancy is smaller than 4%. These results could be employed for designing PRHR HXs for nuclear reactors.