High Temperature Heat Exchanger Project: Quarterly Progress Report April 1, 2005 through June 30, 2005

摘要

Quarterly Collaboration Meeting. General Atomics hosted a UNLVRF HTHX Project quarterly meeting on June 5 in San Diego, California. The purpose of the meeting was to promote collaboration and communication among the UNLV Research Foundation partners. Collaborators had the opportunity to discuss their research program plan and update their progress. The next meeting will be in September in Berkeley hosted by UC Berkeley.HTHX Computational Design (UNLV). Work on optimizing the ceramic offset strip in compact HTHX design through parametric studies was performed and completed. A simple single channel model was used to perform parametric studies on dimensions and flow rates on the Ceramatec, Inc., compact ceramic HTHX. A single plate model of the heat exchanger was used for studies of flow distribution and pressure drop. The He channel velocity is nearly uniform. The sulfuric acid decomposition channel has a very non-uniform flow distribution and redesign is recommended. Simulation cases and parametric studies have been run in straight-tube heat exchangers assumed to be made from self-catalytic metallic alloys for sulfuric acid decomposition. Analyses using Pt as a catalyst were initiated based on information from Idaho National Laboratory.