Validation of IHX temperature calculation code for future HTGR

Nakagawa, Shigeaki  ; Saikusa, Akio ; Tochio, Daisuke ; Takeda, Tetsuaki*

The intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) is one of key components in the very high temperature reactor (VHTR) system. The IHX is a helium-helium heat exchanger and the secondary hot helium gas heated up to about 900 C in the IHX is provided to the hydrogen production facility such as IS system which produced the hydrogen by the thermo-chemical water-splitting iodine-sulfur process. The calculation to obtain a precise temperature distribution inside the IHX is required to the reliable design in the VHTR system with the design lifetime of 60 years. The 30 days operation in the HTTR with the reactor outlet coolant temperature of 850 C has been performed and the temperature data for the IHX was obtained. The temperature calculation was performed to simulate the temperature distribution inside the IHX during the rated operation of the HTTR. The calculation result shows a good agreement with the experimental data and this calculation code was validated. It was confirmed that the IHX temperature calculation code was able to simulate precisely the temperature distribution inside the heat exchanger.