Analysis of MOD-1 heating section efficiency in the RCCS test facility of high temperature reactors

Abstract

In order to develop the design of Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS) from High Temperature Reactors (HTRs), Center for Nuclear Reactor Technology and Safety (PTKRN) has built an RCCS experimental facility aimed for supporting the development of methods in designing a RCCS for a larger scale. This facility refers to the basic design of the RCCS of a 10 MWth Non-Commercial Power Reactor (RDNK) with a scale of 1/1 for height and 1/15 scale for width. With the availability of this experimental facility, characterization needs to evaluate whether the facility has functioned as planned. Especially for heating section, the initial design made called the Mod-1 is a model that is still open on all sides without insulation except on the back of the heating plate. The objective of this analysis is to determine the efficiency of this section. Analysis is carried out through numerical and analytical calculations by developing an calculation program based on Matlab. Two analysis conditions are evaluated such as normal condition and accident condition. The result shows that in normal condition, the efficiency of heating section is only 11.34%, and increase to 13,55% in accident conditions. It means that the heat released by the heating plate that is effectively received by cooling water through 5 riser pipes is very small. So, the heating section Mod-1 of RCCS Test Loop has very low efficiency and needs to be improved.