Thermo-fluid-solid Coupling Analyses In The Steam Generator Of A High Temperature Gas Colled Reactor

The steam generator(SG)is one of the most crucial component of any power plant.Basically it acts as heat exchanger which extracts the heat of the coolant coming from reactor core to the feedwater which is then converted to steam.The steam so produced will then run the turbine.The role of SG is of key importance as it helps in regulating the temperature within the reactor.The failure of SG will lead to a very hazardous situation and consequently a very serious accident would then be expected.Modelling of the SG demands a very careful analysis and attention must be paid in designing to ensure the safety and reliability of the plant.The operating conditions such as temperature,pressure and speed of the fluids are some of the basic and important factors in the design of any SG.Also the static structural analysis that includes stress,strain and deformation within the SG must be analysed.It is very important to know about the areas which are under stress or those who deform under normal conditions because at these areas cracks can occur due to fatigue.To make a better,faster and optimized design decisions for the steam generators and about selection of coolant and materials the need for such analysis emerges.Thus,advance numerical simulation methods are applied on the on SG to assure the performance of SG in normal operating conditions.The objective of the research is to perform thermo-fluid-solid coupling analysis for the steam generator of a high temperature gas cooled reactor(HTGR-10)which is China's experimental reactor.The steam generator is modelled and then tested for some boundary conditions and structural analysis.The analysis is of key importance as Steam generator is very crucial component of a power plant system that ensures the safety and efficiency of a plant.To predict the thermal distribution in the tubes of a steam generator the coupled heat transfer between the primary and secondary sides must be considered.ANSYS Fluent is used for analysis that employs finite element method to achieve the task.The temperature distribution within the steam generator is analysed.The resulting temperature profile,pressure profile and the velocity profile for the coolant and feedwater is determined.In static structural analysis equivalent stress,equivalent elastic strain and the total deformation produced in the tube under such conditions is calculated.We see that the temperature of feedwater increases continuously as it moves upward in the tube while the coolant(He gas)temperature decreases as it goes down through the shell.The pressure of a coolant decreases as it flows downwards in the shell.Similarly,the velocity of a feedwater is higher at other regions compared to the walls.The equivalent stress,equivalent elastic strain and the total deformation produced in a tube are highly dependent on system temperature,tube material and the geometric configuration of tube.