PARAMETERS ANALYSIS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOLTEN SALT LOOP AS A NUCLEAR REACTOR SAFETY TEST APPARATUS

• Main Author: Hariyanto, Duwi
• Format: Dissertations
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/79515
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Natural circulation loops are an important topic in heat transfer analysis in energy plants without recirculation pumps. This study aimed to analyze the parameters required to develop a molten salt loop. The salt phase transition analysis was investigated experimentally and computationally on the apparatus constructed following the heater in the natural circulation loop. Variations in heating power were performed in studying the phase transitions of NaNO3 salt, KNO3 salt, and a eutectic mixture of both. At the same power, the efficiency difference between the eutectic salt and KNO3 salt reached 72.2%, while that with NaNO3 salt reached 97.7%. Experimental and modeling results using ANSYS Fluent show that low melting temperature and low latent heat are crucial characteristics of salt as a working fluid consideration for efficient heating in molten salt loops. Heat transfer analysis of molten salt loop based on literature was carried out with the help of COMSOL Multiphysics software. Steady-state, power step-up, and power stepdown modeling of a rectangular loop with NaNO3+KNO3 salt working fluid were performed. In addition, natural circulation loops were constructed in this work for experimental and modeling analysis. Two types of loops constructed were in the form of a rectangle and an irregular pentagon. Both were equipped with a heater made of nichrome wire and a cooler composed of a small-diameter pipe inside a larger-diameter pipe so that the fluid can be flowed between the annulus of the two pipes. The percentage difference in Reynolds number between the highest and lowest heating power flux reached 38.7% in the irregular pentagon loop. The results show that the higher the power applied, the higher the Reynolds number value at steady state. This research can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the parameters in developing molten salt loops and the potential applications of the technology in energy generation