An advanced gas-cooled nuclear energy consortium contacted Wattco to help them with their research and development team. The requirement is an industrial heater to heat up Carbon Dioxide (CO2). The gas is for use as a cooling agent with graphite- a neutron moderator – in their nuclear reactor.
The nuclear reactor was developed for high gas temperatures for efficiency and additional testing was required to measure heat output as well as additional factors such as pressure drops and its relationship with elevated temperature within a stainless-steel set. Temperatures of 279 degrees C were to be reached for longer periods of time.
Solution
Wattco provided a 12-inch 2000# psi Stainless Steel 316 flanged circulation heater to a customer in Tulsa, Oklahoma that had thermocouples at exit ports as well as an accurate SCR digital controller to maintain the temperature they were looking for.
Wattco prides itself as being a major contributor to science with the goal of using environmentally acceptable techniques The area of installation also has some vibration. So, hairpin tubular elements with a 0.475-inch diameter of seamless tubing with several baffles provide additional support. A drain valve was installed as well as a pressure gauge for monitoring.
A high limit control was also suggested for safety purposes and the unit was skid mounted vertically for easy installation. The electric heater was rated at 250KW and was fully installed with a redundant system for backup purposes. This was a closed-loop system, which had high-rated insulation to avoid the possibility of heat loss. The team monitored the progress of these circulation heaters for 3 months providing additional technical support as well as service parts as needed.
The field of nuclear science is ever-changing in the hopes to find alternative sources of energy using the safest methods known. Wattco prides itself as being a major contributor to science with the goal of using environmentally acceptable techniques to achieve these objectives.
Benefits
- Electric heating provides the safety requirements needed in a highly sensitive environment
- Accurate controls allowed for the specified heat to be attained easily
- High limit controls allowed for safety in case elevated temperatures passed the required heat level
- Very low maintenance in a straightforward installation
