R&Donthermalhydraulicsofcoreandcore–bottomstructureOriginalResearchArticle

Thermalhydraulictestsonthecoreandcore–bottomstructureofthehigh-temperatureengineeringtestreactor(HTTR)werecarriedoutwiththeheliumengineeringdemonstrationloop(HENDEL)undersimulatedreactoroperatingconditions.TheHENDELwascomposedofheliumgascirculationloops,mothersections(M1andM2)andadaptorsection(A),andtwotestsections,i.e.thefuelstacktestsection(T1)andin-corestructuretestsection(T2).IntheT1testsectionsimulatingafuelstackofthecore,thermalandhydraulicperformancesofheliumgasflowingthroughafuelblockwereinvestigatedforthermaldesignoftheHTTRcore.IntheT2testsectionsimulatingthecore–bottomstructure,demonstrationtestswereperformedtoverifythestructuralintegrityofgraphiteandmetalcomponents,sealperformanceagainstheliumgasleakageamongthegraphitepermanentblocksandthermalmixingperformanceofheliumgas.