Experimental study of heat transfer through cooling water circuit in a reactor vault by using Al2O3 Nanofluid

Abstract

The heat produced in the nuclear reactor due to fission reaction must be kept in control or else it will damage the components in the reactor core. Nuclear plants are using water for the operation dissipation of heat. Instead, some chemical substances which have higher heat transfer coefficient and high thermal conductivity. This experiment aims to find out how efficiently a nanofluid can dissipate heat from the reactor vault. The most commonly used nanofluid is Al2O3 nanoparticle with water or ethylene as base fluid. The Al2O3 has good thermal property and it is easily available. In addition, it can be stabilized in various PH levels. The nanofluid is fed into the reactor's coolant circuit. The various temperature distribution leads to different characteristic curve that occurs on various valve condition leading to a detailed study on how temperature distribution carries throughout the cooling circuit. As a combination of Al2O3 as a nanoparticle and therminol 55 as base fluid are used for the heat transfer process. The Al2O3 nanoparticle is mixed in therminol 55 at 0.05 vol.% concentration. Numerical analysis on the reactor vault model was carried out by using ABAQUS and the experimental results were compared with numerical results.