A Study Of The Heat Loss Of The Molten Salt Natural Circulation Experimental Loop

Fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor(FHR)is an advanced reactor that uses the high-temperature molten salt as the coolant.FHR adopts passive safety systems that are based on the natural circulation of the molten salt.Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics(SINAP)has designed and constructed a high-temperature molten salt natural circulation experimental loop to study the characteristics of the natural circulation of the molten salt.Ideally,the molten salt absorbs the heat at the hot end,releases the heat at the cold end,and carries away the heat via the natural circulation.In reality,the high-temperature molten salt loop will inevitably transfer the heat to the surrounding environment through the loop components and the pipelines.This part of the heat is often difficult to be accurately estimated,and may be viewed as the heat loss.The heat loss of the loop may affect the natural circulation profoundly,and in the extreme case,may even hinder the establishment of the natural circulation or cause a molten salt solidification and blockage in the pipelines.We have conducted the heat loss experiments on the salt storage tank,the pool,and the main pipe,and obtained the experimental data of the heat loss.We have also calculated the heat loss in different temperatures using numerical methods.Based on the measured and calculated results,we have obtained the empirical equations for the heat loss of the molten salt natural circulation experimental loop.The work may support the design optimization and experiments of the molten salt natural circulation loop and the heat storage equipment.