The influence analysis of addition number of plate to heat exchanger performance of TRIGA 2000 reactor

In order to reduce the existing bubble in the core of Bandung TRIGA 2000 reactor during its operation above 1000 kW, was done by increasing the effectivity of the heat exchanger (HE). One of the methods for increasing this effectivity is done by adding the number of plate to heat exchanger. To get an appropriate number of plate to be added on achieving its requirement, the analysis to know how the comparison of its performance on variation of addition the number of plate, is needed. The analysis was done by using the NTU-Effectivity method. The variables which influence its effectivity was obtained from the operational experiences since of the year 2000 until 2005. Besides that, it was assumed that the properties of working fluid had not much changed on its temperature and its pressure and small fouling deposit on the plate of HE. The results show that generally the addition of the number of plate would increase the effectivity of the heat exchanger. But for the low flow rate of the primary(600 gpm) and the high flow rate of the secondary(6000 gpm), a little bit of increasing effectivity was obtained for the addition the number of plate, and the effectivity had been reached to above 98%. (author)