Preliminary study on high temperature heat exchanger for nuclear steel making

Both in the high temperature heat exchanger and in the steam reformer, there remain several technical problems required to be solved before nuclear steel making is actualized. The loop for use with basic studies of those problems was planned by the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan (ISIJ), and its actual designing, construction and co-ordination of tests were undertaken by IHI on behalf of ISIJ. The primary coolant used in the loop was helium having a pressure of approx. 12 kg/cm2g and a temperature of approx. 1 1000C at the inlet of the high temperature heat exchanger, i.e., the test section. Steam, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide were used as secondary coolants. Of the technical problems regarding the high temperature heat exchanger for nuclear steel making, which were selected and studied using the loop, the following items are discussed in this report. (1) Heat exchange performance using helium and steam (2) Hydrogen permeation of heat resisting alloys (3) Creep and carburization of heat resisting alloys (4) Hydrogen absorption performance of the titanium sponge. (auth.)