Effect of different flow channel structures on heat transfer performance of lead-bismuth eutectic-supercritical carbon dioxide heat exchangers[J]. Thermal power generation, 2025, 54(7): 135-143.
Effect of different flow channel structures on heat transfer performance of lead-bismuth eutectic-supercritical carbon dioxide heat exchangers[J]. Thermal power generation, 2025, 54(7): 135-143. DOI: 10.19666/j.rlfd.202410227.
Improving the heat transfer efficiency between liquid lead-bismuth eutectic(LBE) and supercritical carbon dioxide(S-CO_2) is of great significance for advancing the development of advanced nuclear energy systems. The heat transfer performance of printed circuit heat exchangers(PCHE) with different channel structures(straight shaped
wing-shaped
S-shaped and Z-shaped) is investigated through numerical simulation. The results show that the thermal resistance on cold side of the heat exchanger is significantly higher than that on the hot side
with the average heat transfer coefficient of the hot side in straight-channel PCHE being 26.2 times that of the cold side. Under the condition of a fixed hot-side channel structure
the effects of different cold-side channel structures on PCHE heat transfer performance are explored. The results indicate that
compared with straight channels
the heat transfer of Z-shaped
S-shaped and wing-shaped channels increases by 23.3%
22.2%
and 10.6%
respectively
while the specific pumping power improves by 1.48 times
1.68 times
and 1.44 times
respectively. In addition
the dynamic performance of different PCHE designs when the cold-side flow rate increases by 20% is compared
revealing that the straight-channel PCHE has the shortest rebalancing time. The pressure drop loss is more significant than the improvement in heat transfer. These findings provide theoretical guidance for optimizing the design of LBE/S-CO_2 heat exchangers and contribute to enhancing the thermal efficiency of next-generation nuclear energy systems.