Experimental and Numerical Study on Convective Heat Transfer Characteristic in the Turbulent Region of Molten Salt in Shell-Side of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Abstract

In order to better understand the heat transfer performance of shell and tube heat exchanger (STHE) with Fluoride salt as the heat transfer fluids, the steady-state heat transfer process of STHE with segmental baffles (STHE-SBs) in Fluoride-salt High Temperature Test Loop (FHTL) has been studied experimentally and numerically. Firstly, the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was established to simulate the thermal performance of STHE-SBs. Then, thermal performance data such as temperature and heat transfer power were experimentally obtained under steady-state conditions of STHE-SBs at higher temperature (550–600°C), and to further verify the reliability of the simulation. The results show that the temperature distribution obtained by CFD is in good agreement with the experimental results, which indicates that the CFD program is reliable to describe the thermal performance of the STHE-SBs. On this basis, the effect of segmental baffles on the heat transfer enhancement of molten salt in shell side of STHE was discussed. The results show that the heat transfer enhancement effect of molten salt on the shell side of STHE-SBs is better than that of STHE without segmental baffles, and the increment of Nusselt number is about 64–73% during the low Reynolds number region. Finally, the heat transfer coefficient of molten salt in the shell side of STHE-SBs are fitted, which can be used in relatively wide ranges of Reynolds number and temperature.