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Experimental study of the natural convection characteristics of finned-tube sodium-to-air heat exchanger

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Abstract

The finned-tube sodium-to-air heat exchanger plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of prototype Gen IV sodium-cooled fast reactors. It is designed to actively operate with power, but it is also important to consider its passive performance to ensure availability during power-out conditions. This study focused on addressing this limitation through a natural convection experiment using a dedicated facility, and the obtained results were compared with the safety analysis code MARS-LMR. The overall temperature difference was observed to be within an acceptable range of less than 5 %. While the code calculations aligned well with the experimental results at higher temperatures, they underestimated the experimental results at lower temperatures. These findings can serve as a basis for other codes employing different heat transfer correlations and for future reactor licensing purposes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea Government (MSIT) (Nos. 2021M2E2A2081063, 2021M2D1A1084836, 2022 M2E2A2079840, and 2023M2D2A1A01074092).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), 989-111 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, Korea

    Jewhan Lee & Jung Yoon

  2. Innowill Corporation, 55 Sinilseo-ro 85beon-gil, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, 34325, Korea

    Jaehong Min

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju-daero, Jinju, Korea

    Hyungmo Kim

Authors
  1. Jewhan Lee
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  2. Jaehong Min
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  3. Jung Yoon
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  4. Hyungmo Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hyungmo Kim.

Additional information

Jewhan Lee received the M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He is currently working for Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and is a Project Manager of sodium experiment activities and facilities.

Hyungmo Kim received his Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering) from POSTECH. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea. His research interests include various kinds of heat and mass transport phenomena in practical systems.

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Lee, J., Min, J., Yoon, J. et al. Experimental study of the natural convection characteristics of finned-tube sodium-to-air heat exchanger. J Mech Sci Technol 38, 2055–2062 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-024-0335-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-024-0335-2

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