Macroscopic High-temperature Structural Analysis on an Alloy800HT PCHE prototype

One of the major challenges in establishing a hydrogen economy is how to produce massive quantities of hydrogen in a clean, safe, and economical way. Among the various hydrogen production methods, nuclear hydrogen production is garnering worldwide attention since it can produce hydrogen, a promising energy carrier, without an environmental burden. In the intermediate loop, the IHX (Intermediate Heat Exchanger) of the VHTR transfers 950 .deg. C heat generated from the VHTR to a hydrogen production plant through a hot gas duct, while the PHE (Process Heat Exchanger) is a component that utilizes the nuclear heat from the nuclear reactor to produce hydrogen. A PCHE (Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger) is considered a candidate of the IHX of the nuclear hydrogen system in the ROK. Recently, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has established a helium experimental loop (HELP) for a performance test of VHTR components, and has manufactured a lab-scale PCHE prototype made of Alloy800HT to be tested in HELP. In this study, to investigate the macroscopic structural characteristics and behavior of a lab-scale Alloy800HT PCHE prototype under the test conditions of HELP, FE (finite element) modeling, a thermal analysis, and a structural analysis on the PCHE prototype have been conducted as a precedent study for a performance test. The results obtained in this study were compared with the test results of the lab-scale Alloy800HT PCHE prototype