Feasibility Investigation of the Decay Heat Removal Capability Using the Concept of a Thermosyphon in the Liquid Metal Reactor

A new design concept for a decay heat removal system in a liquid metal reactor is proposed. The new design utilizes a thermosyphon to enhance the heat removal capacity and its heat transfer characteristics are analyzed against the current PSDRS (Passive Safety Decay heat Removal System) in the KALIMER (Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor) design. The preliminary analysis results show that the new design with a thermosyphon yields substantial increase of 20∼40% in the decay heat removal capacity compared to the current design that do not have the thermosyphon. The new design reduces the temperature rise in the cooling air of the system and helps the surrounding structure in maintaining its mechanical integrity for long term operation at an accident. Also the analysis revealed the characteristics of the interactions among various heat transfer modes in the new design.