Applicability of heat transfer enhancement method using porous material to nuclear hydrogen production system

Takeda, Tetsuaki; Ichimiya, Koichi*

As for the development of the coupling technology between the HTGR and the hydrogen production system, JAEA have carried out the hydrogen production test with the steam reforming process by natural gas. In the HTGR hydrogen production system, disk type fins are attached on the outside surface of the catalyst tube and the tube is inserted into the guide tube to increase an amount of transferred heat in the present design of the steam reformer. However, we have to take the deterioration of the structure strength by attaching the fins and processing the tube surface into consideration with the design of the steam reformer. The objectives of this study are to develop a method for heat transfer enhancement using a porous material and to discuss the applicability of this method into the steam reformer of the nuclear hydrogen production system. An experiment has been performed using the simulated apparatus of the steam reformer to obtain the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics.