Temperature and Heat Flux Distributions in Sodium Receiver Tubes

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of tube wall heat transfer using a simplified two-dimensional model. Wall conduction is modelled using the laplacianFoam solver from OpenFOAM R with boundary conditions representing internal/external convection and radiation. Using this model, the effect of sodium as a working fluid is compared with molten salt, and tube performance is characterised through the use of tube efficiency. Fouling has a significant effect on the efficiency with molten salt as a heat transfer fluid. Variation in fluid flow parameters and tube dimensions also have a significant impact on the efficiency tubes using molten salt. Tubes using liquid sodium are effectively insensitive to tube diameter and flow velocity. Show more