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ORNL-TM-2098.txt
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ORNL-TM-2098.txt
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1000
STER
OAK RIDGE NATIONAL L
operated by
UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION
NUCLEAR DIVISION LY
for the
U.S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
ORNL- TM- 2098
.y ’ -~
COPY NO. -
DATE - January 3, 1968
TUBE VIBRATION IN MSRE PRIMARY HEAT EXCHANGER
R. J. Kedl
C. XK. McGlothlan
ABSTRACT
) The primary heat exchanger for the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment
“lv was completed in 1963. Preoperational tests with water revealed
. excessive tube vibrations and high fluid pressure drop on the shell
side of the exchanger. Modifications were made to correct these
deficiencies. From January 1965 through November 1967 the heat ex-
chenger has operated for about 14,000 hours in molten salt without
indications of leakage or change in performance.
NOTICE This document contains information of a preliminary nature
and was prepared primarily for internal use at the Ock Ridge National
Laboratory. It is subject to revision or correction and therefore does
not represent a final report.
P Wt
LEGAL NOTICE
This report was puporod as an account of Govornmenf sponsorsd work. Neither the Umfe& S'lcnos,
nor the Commission, nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission:
A. Mokes any warranty or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy,
completeness, or usefulness of the informastion centained in this report, or that the use of ]
any information, apparctus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe
privately owned rights; or '
B. Assumes ony liabilities with rospoc‘l to the use of or for damages usulhng from the use of
any information, epparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report.
rAs used in the above, “‘person acting on-behalf of the Commission® includes any ernployee or -
contractor of the Commission, or cmploy-- of such zontractor, to the extent that such smployee -
or contractor of the Commission, or ompfom of svch contractor prepares, disseminates, or
provides access to, any information pursuant to his employment or contract with the Commission,
or his employment with such eontractor, :
R
*
1]
CONTENTS
Abstract . & & ¢ v ¢ 4 ¢ o v b 0 e e e e e e
List of Tables . . . . & ¢« & ¢ & ¢ 4 ¢ 0 s o & &
LISt OF FLGUTESs « o o o o o o o o o o o o o s e e o v
Introduction . . . ¢ & ¢ ¢« 4 ¢ v s 4 b e s e vt e e e
Design Considerations of Primary Heat Exchanger. . . . .
Description of Heat Exchanger. . . . . . . « « . .
Pre-Operational Testing and Modifications, . . . . . . .
Operational History. . . . . . ¢« ¢« ¢ & v o v 4 ¢ o o« o« &
ConclusionsS. o o o v ¢ s ¢ o o « o s o o s o o & o o o o
ListofReferernc‘es.......,......;...
Appendix - Febrication Drawings — Primary Heat Ebcchangér
o
\n\n-F‘-P"Pm
13
1k
23
27
29
31
F w o
*
*
® =N OV W N R
LIST OF TABLES
Design Data for Primary Heat Exchanger. . . + « « « « . &
Properties of Fuel and Coolant Salts. « « ¢« o o « ¢ « . &
Composition and Properties of Hastelloy-N « ¢« ¢« ¢« o ¢ &« &
Reactor Accumulated Operating Data. . . . . . . « + & . &
LIST OF FIGURES
MSRE Flow Diagram . . « « « + & o+ « o« o o« o o C e e e
Primary Heat Exchanger for MSRE . . . . « ¢« « « « « « o .
Tube-to-Tube Sheet Joint, MSRE Primary Heat Exchanger . .
Hydraulic Test Installation, MSRE Primery Heat Exchanger.
Hydraulic Test Shell Assembly, Primary Heat Exchanger . .
MSRE Primary Heat Exchanger Tube Damage . . . . . .+ « &
Fluid Frictional Head loss in Primary Heat Exchanger. .
MSRE Operational History. . . « « ¢« ¢« ¢« ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢« o o « o«
REEG[
15
17
19
20
2L
25
iy
.
:
3
;
L
N
C
-
INTRODUCTION
In October 1967, the Division of Reactor Development and Technology
of the AEC began a survey of heat exchangers in the primary circuits of
nuclear reactor facilities for which the Division has technical responsi-
bility.}s# The heat exchanger in the fuel circult of the Molten-Salt
Reactor Experiment (MSRE) was included in the survey, and this report is
intended to provide the information requested.
The heat exchanger was designed in 1961. Fabricastion was completed
early in 1963. Difficulties with excessive vibrations in heat exchangers
at other nuclear reactor facilities prompted a review of the design of the
unit that had been built for the MSRE. This review indicated that vibra-
tion could be & problem and that flow tests should be conducted with the
heat exchanger., Flow tests with water were performed on the exchanger
during the winter of 1963-1964. The tests revealed excessive vibration
of the tubes and excessive pressure drop through the shell side of the
heat exchanger., Its faults were corrected, and the modified component
was installed in the primary.loop of the reactor system, Fig. 1, in the
spring of 1964, From January 1965 through November 1967 the heat ex-
changer has been operated for approximately 14,000 hours with molten salt
at temperatures from 1000 to 1225°F without indications of leakage or
change in performance.
~ DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS OF PRIMARY HEAT EXCHANGER
The MSRE primary'heat:eXchanger.is used to transfer heat from the
fuel salt'to the'coolant'salt It was designed for low holdup of salts,
'31mplicity of construction, and moderately high performance. The space
_,limitations W1thin the containment and other considerations dictated a
3 fairly compact unit. 3 A U—tube configuration as shown in Fig. 2 best
satisfied the requirements and also minimized the thermal-expansion
'~problems in the heat exchanger.u-
Molten salt discharged by the fuel pump flows at 1200 gpm through
the shell side of the primary heat exchanger where 1t is cooled from
REMOTE MAINTENANCE
CONTROL ROOM
ORNL-OWG 63-1209R
REACTOR CONTROL
ROOM
fi | d
S
g ‘*‘l N
.‘.-1 ‘I!lfiliiz"-_'
A4 W B
~ |
AL
. REACTOR VESSEL
. HEAT EXCHANGER
. FUEL PUMP
. FREEZE FLANGE
. THERMAL SHIELD
. COOLANT PUMP
Fig. 1. MSRE Flow Diagram.
O
.
-.."s_’
T — g F
LI - j
’-l-
oo
" i i
il vy
=Sl 1y ¥
e W
)
== |
7. RADIATOR
8. COOLANT DRAIN TANK
9. FANS ‘
10. FUEL DRAIN TANKS
1. FLUSH TANK
2. CONTAINMENT VESSEL
13. FREEZE VALVE
(
‘ | " T' .» ..&“\,
ORNL-LR-DWG 52038
FUEL INLEY
U-TUBE BUNDLE
Yo-in-0D HEAT
EXCHANGER TUBE
CROSS BAFFLES
THERMAL-BARRIER PLATE, - { % OF DIA)
COOLANT INLET
L
L
R
COOLANT-STREAM " “GCOOLANT OUTLET
SEPARATING BAFFLE’
FUEL OUTLET
Fig. 2. Primary Heat Exchanger for MSRE.
o i
. mp
8
1225°F to 1175°F. The coolant salt circulates through the tubes at &
rate of 850 gpm, entering at 1025°F and leaving at 1100°F. From the
heat transfer and drainability standpoints, it was better to pass the
fuel salt through the shell and the coolent salt through the tubes., The
shell side also presents less opportunity for retention of gas pockets
during fuel salt filling operations. | |
The design data are given in Table 1 and the design basis physical
properties of the fuel and coolant salts and container materiasl are
given in Tables 2 and 3. Stresses in the shell, tubes, and tube sheet
were evaluated for the design point conditions and reported in design
reports.4>5 Design of the heat exchanger was based on formulae and
correlations of Kiern,6 requiremefits of the ASME Unfired Pressure Vessel
Code, Section VIII,”7 Interpretations of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel
Codes,®»9,10,11 gng Stendards of Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Associ-
ation,l® The exchanger was 6f a common design; applicable ASME and TEMA
standards did not require a vibration analysis and none was made.
The TEMA standards do require that means be provided to protect the
tube bundlie against impinging fluids at the entrance to the shell if the
velocity of the entering fluid exceeds 3 ft/sec. Since the fluid enters
the MSRE heat exchanger at 19.3 ft/sec, an impingement baffle was needed
to satisfy TEMA standards. This impingement baffle was omitted from the
design in order to keep the hold-up of fuel salt to a minimum.
Tube holes in cross baffles were drilled 1/32 in. larger in diemeter
than the outside diasmeter of the tubes as indicated by TEMA standards.
This large clearance contributed to a tube vibration problem that was
discovered during preoperational testing and is discussed in a later
section of this report.
* :
The design basis performance is discussed here. The capacity is
actually about 7.5 Mw with the design fuel and coolant flows and inlet.
temperatures,
¥ £ j} .
»
1
Table 1
Design Data for Primary Heat Exchanger
Construction Material
Heat Load, Mw
Shell-side Fluid
Tube-side Fluid
Layout
Baffle pltch, in.
Tube pitch, in,
Active shell length, ft
Overall shell length, ft
Shell outside diameter, in.
Shell thickness, in,
Aversge tube length, ft
Number of U-tubes
Tube size, in,
Effective heat-transfer surface, ftZ
Tubesheet thickness, in.
Fuel salt holdup, f£t°
Design temperature: shell side, °F
tube side, °F
Design pressure: shell side, psig
' tube side, psig
Allowable working pressure: .
shell side, psig
tube side, psig
@pefore modification,
bAfter modification.
Straight section of tubes only. :
| dBased on’ actual thicknesse=
Hastelloy-N
10
Fuel Salt
Coolant Salt
25% cut, cross-baffled
shell with U-tubes
12
0.775 triangular
~ 6
~ 8
~ l"{
1/2
~ 14
163% 159°
1/2 OD; 0.0L42 wall
~ 254°
1-1/2
6.1
1300
1300
25
90
5%
125
I0
Table 1 (continued)
Design Data for Primary Heat Exchanger
Hydrostatic test pressure:
Shell side, psig
tube side, psig
Terminal temperature: fuel salt, °F
coolant, °F
Effective log mean temperéture
difference, °F
Pressure drop: shell side, psi
tube side, psi
Nozzles: shell, in. (Sched-40)
tube, in. (Sched-L0)
Fuel-salt flow rate, gpm
Coolant-salt flow rate, gpm
Overall heat transfer coefficient,
Btu/hr-£t%-°F
Average Heat Transfer Coefficient
Tube Side, Btu/ft®-hr-°F
Shell Side, Btu/ft®-hr-°F
gBefore.modificatiQn.
bAfter modification,
e
As measured.
800
1335
1225 inlet; 1175 outlet
1025 inlet; 1100 outlet
133
2k
29
5 inlet & outlet;
5 1" 1"
1200 (2.67 cfs)
850 (1.85 cfs)
~ 1100, ~ 600°
~ 5000
~ 3500
& 5 inlet
T outlet
-,
12
Table 2
Properties of Fuel and Cooiant Salts
Fuel Coolant
s Salt Salt
Composition, mole%:
LiF TO 66
BeFso 23 34
ThFg 1
ZrFy 5
UF, ~ 1
Average Physical Properties: @ 1200°F _ @ 1065°F
Specific heat, Btu/lb-°F 0.46 0.57
Thermel conductivity, Btu/ftZ-hr-°F/ft 2.8" 3.5
Viscosity, 1b/ft-hr 18 20
Density, 1b/ft> 154 120
. Prandtl number - 3.00 3.26
vV ' ,
5 Liquidus Temperature, fF 8Lo 850
*These are estimated values that were used in the design. Values
obtained from measurements in 1967 are about 0.8 Btir/ftZ-hr-°F/ft.
12
Table 3
Compositionfiénd Profierties of Hastelloy-N&
Chemical Properties:
Ni - 66-T1%
Mo 15-18
Cr 6-8
Fe, max 5
c 0.0%-0,08
Ti + Al, max 0.50
S, max 0.02
| Physical Properties:
Density, 1b/in,>
Melting Point, °F
,Mn,
Si,
Cu,
B,
W’
P,
Co,
Thermal conductivity, Btu/hr-ftZ-°F/ft at 1300°F
Modulus of elasticity at ~ 1300°F, psi
Specific heat, Btu/1b-°F at 1300°F
Mean coefficient of thermal expansio
70-1300°F range, in./in.-
Mechanical Properties:
Maximum sllowable stress,b*psi: at
n,
°F
1000°F
1100°F
1200°F
1300°F
mex
max
max
max
mex
max
max
1.0%
1.0
0.35
0.010
0.50
0.015
0.20
0317
- 2470-2555
2.7
24,8 x 10°
0.135
i)
8.0 x 107° .
17,000
13,000
6,000
3,500
aCommercially aveilable from Haynes Stellite as "Hastelloy-N" and
International Nickel Co. as INCO-806.
b
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Case 1315.
[
C
e
13
. DESCRIPTION OF HEAT EXCHANGER
The heat exchanger is a conventional shell and U-tube exchanger with
a cross-baffled tube bundle. Tt is of all-welded construction and is
fabricated from Hastelloy-N throughout, except for the alloy used to
back-braze the tube sheet jolnts, The dished heads were cold-pressed by
the Paducah Plant of Union Carbide, the tube sheet was forged by Taylor
Forge Co., the tube-to-tube sheet joints were back-brazed by Wall
Colmonoy Co., and ‘the remainder of the fabrication was done in machine
shops of the Y-12 Plant of Union Carbide. All work was covered by ORNL
Specifications,13
The shell is ~ 17 in., OD and about 8-ft 3-in. long, including the
8-3/k—in. long coolant salt header and the ASME flanged and dished heads
at the ends. (See ORNL Drawings D-EE-A-L0869, -T2, -Thk.) The shell is
1/2-in, thick in the cylindrical portion and the heads. The fuel enters
at the U-bend end of the shell through a 5-in. Schedule-l40 pipe nozzle,
near the top of the dished head. Before modifications, the fuel salt
left through a 5-in. Schedule-40 pipe nozzle at the bottom of the shell
at the tube sheet end. (See ORNL Drawings D-EE-A-L08T3, -Tk.)
Six 25%-cut cross baffles of 1/4-in. plate, spaced at 12-in. inter-
vals, direct the fuel salt flow across the tube bundle (see ORNL Drawings
D-EE-A-L086L4, -65, -66). A barrier plate, similar to the baffle plates
but with no cutaway segment, is located 1-7/8 in. from the tube sheet to
provide a more-or- -less stagnant layer of fuel salt and reduce temperature
differences across the tube sheet The baffles and the barrier plate
~ are held in position by spacer rods, screwed and tackdwelded together,
‘to the tube sheet, and to each baffle.
A divider separates the entering and leaving coolant salt streams
© in the coolant header. It is fabricated of 1/2-in. plate and extends
',from the ‘tube sheet to the dished head. It is positioned by guide'strips
~on the shell wall and a groove in the edge fits ‘over & l/h—in. pointed,
horizontal. projection on the tube sheet This arrangement provides a
.hrfllabyrinth-type seal between the channels without stiffening the tube
sheet,
15
Before modificetions to the heat exchanger, there were 163 tubes,
1/2-in, OD by 0.042-in, wall thickness, affording an effective transfer
surface of ~ 254 rt2, See ORNL Drewing D-EE-40867. The tubes are ar-
ranged on & 0.775~in, equilateral triangular pitch, The tube holes
through the 1-1/2—in, thick tube sheet had trepanned grooves on both
sides of the sheet., See ORNL Drawing D-EE-A-L0865. . .
The grooves on the coolant salt side were to permit the tube-to-tube
sheet welds to be made between the tube and & lip of about equal wall
thickness in the tube sheet (see Figure 3). The tubes were expanded at
the tip end into the holes before welding., After welding, the tube
openings were reamed to the inslde diameter of the tubes. The trepanned
grooves on the fuel-salt side were to permit back-brazing of the joints.
The back-brazing operation was performed in a furnace with a hydrogen
atmosphere using a ring of gold-nickel brazing alloy.
The heat exchanger is installed horizontally, pitching toward the
fuel-salt outlet at a slope of about 3°. Each U-tube is oriented so
that the coolant salt will also drain. The unit weighs about 2060 1bs
when empty and 3500 lbs when filled with fuel and coolant salts. The.
fuel-salt holdup 1s ~ 6.1 £t>, and the coolant-salt holdup is about
3.7 £t°.
PRE-OPERATIONAL TESTING AND MODIFICATIONS
Difficulties with excessive vibrations in heat exchangers at the
Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant and the Hallam Nuclear Power Facility
prompted a review of the MSRE heat exchanger design in the fall of 1963.
This review, together with some exploratory tests of a single tube mockup,
indicated that fluid induced vibrations could be a problem, and that flow
tests should be conducted on the heat exchanger.
Water was the fluid used for these tests for the following reasons:
1. It is convenient to use and readily available at the necessary
flow rates. - '
2. The Strouhsl Number ((ff§%§:§9§l£§§§§;?)) which is the charac-
teristic number used to correlate fluid-induced vibrations from vortex
shedding, is independent of fluid properties such as density and viscosity.
A
«
LY
i5
ORNL-LR-DWG 65682R3
TUBE
TREPAN GROOVE WITH
( BRAZING ALLOY RING
R
N
\
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
A
\
\
\
N
\TREPAN
(o) BEFORE WELDING AND BRAZING
WELD SIDE
A A A ALY,
B e
(6) AFTER WELDING AND BRAZING
Fig. 3. Tube-to-Tube'Sheét Joint MSRE Primary Heat Exchanger.
16
3. Fluid pressure drop measurements were also taken during the
tests and are readily convertible from a water system to a molten salt
systenm, |
Accordingly, an outdoor test installation was built as shown sche-
matically in Figure 4. Water was supplied from a large capacity water
main, A once-through system was used and the water discharged into a
drainage ditch; Before installing the MSRE heat exchanger, the line
‘without the strainer installed was flushed out for about 20 minutes at a
flow rate of 2800 gpm. The strainer was then inserted and the system was
flushed again for about 1 hour at 2600 gpm. Sediment collected by the
stralner consisted of several small pieces of paper gasket material, and
a very small piece of lead. The system was now considered clean and the
heat exchanger was installed. During each successive run, the system
was flushed for a few minutes before water was run through the heat ex-
changer. , _
Hydraulic testing of the heat exchanger can be conveniently divided
into 4 chronological phases as follows: |
1. Initial test of the heat exchanger as built.
2. Testing the heat exchanger as designed, but with the Hastelloy-N
shell replaced by a speclal stainless steel shell featuring observation
windows.
3. Testing the heat exchanger as modified, and with the special
stainless steel shell, :
i, Final testing of the heat exchanger as modified, and with the
Hastelloy-N shell.
Initial Test of Heat Exchanger, As-Built
The heat exchanger, as built, was installed in the water test facility
and tested in December of 1963. Results of this test are as follows:
1. The most dramatic results were audible. At flow rates of 800
to 900 gpm (~ 2/3 design flow) through the shell slde, an intermittent
rattling noise came from the heat exchanger. This noise is hard to de-
scribe but it impressed us as the kind of noise one might hear if tubes
were rattling in the baffle plates. As the flow rate was increased, the
N
1)
T RY
ORNL DWG 68-667
s HEAT EXCHANGER
‘ INDICATOR
)
froM LARGE CAPACITY
LARORATORY WATER
MAIN
(—ELu-su LiINE »
vl
DI,‘S‘CHAQGE | INTO o ‘ SCREEN FILTER
EXISTING DRAINAGE | - INPicaAToR
DITCH - |
L o '_'Fig. 4. Hydraulic Test Installation MSRE Primary Heat Exchanger.
LT
18
fraction of time that the rattling noise was heard also increased and it
seemed to get louder. At about 1100 gpm the noise was continuous. The
rattling continued to’gef louder to the meximum flow rate'fiested, 1300 gpm.
The character of the noise heard differed 1ittle whether the tubes were
empty or full of water. . | _
Measurements were taken with an International Research and Development
Corporation, Model 600B, external pick-up vibrometer at intervals of
200 gpm from 500 to 1300 gpm. The results were hard to interpret.
Generally at flow rates abbve 900 gpm, more instrument activity in the
range of 450-3500 cpm was observed, however, no discrete and continuous
frequencies could be detected. The audible'ratfling noise was the best
indication we had that the tubes were vibfating. To assure ourselves
that the noise was not due to cavitation, we increased back pressure to
55 psig at 1000 gpm. There was no obvious change in the character of
the noise. The conclusion from these tests was that the tubes were
probably vibrating excessively. '
2. 'The overall pressure drop through the tube side and the shell
side of the heat exchanger was measured. The pressure drop through the
tube side was almost exactly the estimated value. The pressure drop
through the shell side was about twice the estimated value.