The aim of this investigation was the application of the TRACE code on a complex heat exchanger (HX) design to qualify the TRACE capabilities to simulate liquid metals as coolants. The chosen HX is related to the MEGAPIE project. The liquid LBE (lead-bismuth-eutectics) cooled target is coupled via a HX to Diphyl THT (DTHT), a diathermic fluid. At the CHEOPE test facility of ENEA in Brasimone (Italy) a mock-up of this HX has been build to investigate the heat transfer behavior between the LBE and the DTHT. Several experiments have been performed at the CHEOPE test facility. The experimental setup consists of one loop for the LBE, one for the DTHT, a HX and of a heater section which represents the target area. For this study only the HX was modeled and investigated. The experimental values for the HX entrance temperatures and mass flow rates served as boundary condition. One challenge of this post-test investigation was to model the DTHT loop because the innately TRACE version can not handle this fluid. Hence, the first step was to implement the thermal properties of DTHT into the TRACE source code. First calculated results obtained with the original TRACE version were disappointing. TRACE was not able to reproduce the HX exit temperatures. Consequently appropriate correlations for helical channel, derived from experimental investigations or CFD analyses, were implemented into TRACE. The results of the modified TRACE version were much closer to the experiments than those for the original version.

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