Ann. nucl. Energy, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 139-142, 1990 0306-4549/90 $3.00+0.

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Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved Copyright © 1990 Pergamon Press plc

ON APPLICATION OF HEAT PIPES FOR PASSIVE

SHUTDOWN HEAT REMOVAL IN ADVANCED LIQUID
METAL A N D GAS-COOLED REACTOR DESIGNS

M. M. RAZZAQUE
Department of Nuclear Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, U.S.A.

(Received for publication 10 October 1989)

Abstract--This paper proposes and evaluates three design options of a heat sink that can be employed for
the condenser section of the heat pipes used for passive shutdown heat removal in the advanced liquid
metal and gas-cooled reactor designs with conventional containment structure. The paper also presents a
discussion on certain features of a heat pipe particularly suitable for such an application. The three possible
heat sinks for the heat pipes are: (1) the atmosphere; (2) passive water cooling pond; and (3) the earth.
Based on a comparative study, it was concluded that a water pond is the most favorable option.

INTRODUCTION 1. The atmosphere (as described by Razzaque et

The application of heat pipes for passive removal
of decay heat directly to the atmosphere has been
discussed by Razzaque et al. (1989) for the Power
Reactor Inherently Safe Module (PRISM) and the
Modular High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor
(MHTGR) designs. The concept relies on shutdown
heat removal from the reactor vessel by natural cir-
culation of the containment building atmosphere (an
inert gas, such as nitrogen) around the reactor vessel,
and rejection of the heat from the gas to the outside
environment through a system of heat-pipe heat ex-
changers located at the top of the containment struc-
ture. The authors indicated that the use of heat pipes
for shutdown heat removal allows the reactor vessel
to be housed in a conventional containment structure
with an inert atmosphere, which will act as a buffer,
and can reduce the likelihood of accidental contact
between sodium or graphite with atmospheric air.
They also pointed out that this design option offers a
significant advantage over the RACS/RCCS type of
air-cooling approach (Coffield et al., 1985; Dunn et
al., 1985) that is currently under consideration for
shutdown heat removal in PRISM and MHTGR. In
addition, a conventional containment building may
be needed for licensing the reactors.
For reactor containment cooling, the evaporator
section of the heat pipe must be exposed to the con-
tainment atmosphere, while the condenser section
needs to be exposed to a heat sink. There are three
possible heat sinks for the condenser section of a heat
pipe. These are :
139
aL, 1989) ;
2. Passive water pond ; and
3. The earth.
This paper presents an evaluation of these options
and their relative merits, particularly in the context
of their applicability for shutdown heat removal in
advanced liquid metal reactors (LMR) and MHTGR.
HEAT PIPES FOR SHUTDOWN HEAT REMOVAL
Heat pipes are devices that transfer heat from one
portion of a sealed pipe to another portion by a pro-
cess of evaporation and condensation using a cir-
culating fluid. The phase change from liquid to gas in
the evaporator section of a heat pipe absorbs heat.
The gas inside the pipe flows from the evaporator
zone to the condenser zone because of the difference
in the gas pressures. The heat is then rejected as the
gas is condensed back to a liquid in the condenser
section of the heat pipe. In order not to limit the
rate of heat transfer, the liquid is returned from the
condenser section to the evaporator section of the
heat pipe by capillary forces through a porous wick
along the inner surface of the pipe wall and/or by
gravity assistance (Razzaque et al., 1989).
Heat pipes can be designed to begin removing heat
at a preset containment temperature and to operate
under specific containment conditions. The principle
of operation is as follows : the heat pipes are loaded
with a quantity of gas that will not condense at the
normal operating temperature. This noncondensable
140 M.M. RAZZAQUE

[NM~T

UPPER GROUND
PLENUM LEVEL
COOLING POND
) WATER ' >
N GAS
CIRCULATION
c C L E A N C R U S H E D ~-~ (
= ROCK AND BOULDERS
////-/
--///i c O
WATER
CIRCULATION 90

> /<~<.
a: /,,-~
i/~//
,5

8 /

I•"LINE OF SYMMETRY

Fig. 1. Schematic of a passive water cooling pond as the heat sink for the heat pipe condenser section.

gas is swept into the condenser section of the heat pipe
where it forms a gas plug. This gas plug represents a
diffusion barrier to the flowing vapor and shuts off
the portion of the condenser that it fills. When the
vapor temperature and the corresponding vapor pres-
sure are increased, such as would occur in a reactor
accident when the containment temperature exceeds
the preset temperature, the noncondensable gas is
compressed into a smaller volume. Under such cir-
cumstances, more of the condenser surface becomes
available for heat transfer. This feature of the heat
pipe is particularly important for the advanced LMRs
and MHTGRs for the following reasons :
1. Minimize the energy loss to the environment
during normal operation of the reactor.
2. Avoid overcooling of the reactor core during
the termination phase of a transient, and therby
maintain just enough negative temperature reac-
tivity feedback to suppress the fission process
indefinitely.
In order to assure good seal of the containment
structure, metallic containment with the heat pipes
welded to it will be desirable. It will require two breaks
before a failed heat pipe would provide a route for
the atmospheric air (if the atmosphere is the heat
sink) or water (if the water pond is the heat sink) to
penetrate inside the containment structure.
Heat sink for the heat pipes
As indicated earlier, the water pond is a possible
heat sink for the condenser section of the heat pipes.
The basic technology is available commercially, and
cooling ponds have been employed as the ultimate
heat sink in many conventional power plants where
evaporation of water rejects heat to the atmosphere.
Cooling ponds are passive in their operation, and
serve as a low temperature heat sink. It can be
designed to be highly resistant to external threats.
Modified cooling ponds have been proposed as
passive ultimate heat sinks for passive emergency core
cooling and containment cooling systems for various
light water reactors (Forsberg and Moses, 1989).
Figure 1 shows a schematic of the proposed design
option where a water pond is the heat sink for the heat
pipes used for shutdown heat removal in advanced
LMRs and MHTGRs with conventional contain-
ment. The following are the key features of the design :
(1) the reactor vessel (sodium pool or M H T G R vessel)
is semiburied with respect to the cooling pond. This
permits natural circulation heat transfer loops to
transfer heat from reactor vessel to the pond via the
 Heat pipes for passive shutdown heat removal 141

CONTAINM~T heat pipes to the rock and the surface of the pool
where heat will be rejected to the atmosphere.
UPPER Evaporation of water from the surface of the pool
PLENUM will remove pool heat. Normally, water evaporation
,.---+
GROUND LEVEL maintains low pool temperature. The rocks and boul-
. GAS ders in the pond will provide a heat sink if the water
CIRCULATION
level falls below the top layer of rock, and will protect
the heat pipes against extreme weather and external
/ j - j ' / / threats such as missiles and military assault. It will
also provide protection of the cooling system against
.// ~41, sabotage. In particular, rock will prevent pumping the
/./N,..~ pool dry since there is no access to the pool bottom.
As a final point, the pond will serve as a barrier
/ / u / .
between the heat pipes and the outside environment,
//~/,. and thus will limit temperature fluctuations on the
o i.o .i. condenser side of the heat pipes due to climatic
changes. As a result, the energy loss to the environ-
ment through the heat pipes during normal operation
o of the reactor will be minimal.
Figure 2 presents the other option of employing the
earth as the heat sink for the heat pipes. In compari-
son, a water sink will require the smallest surface area
for the heat pipe condenser section, whereas the earth
I•'LINE OF SIq~ETRY
will require the largest surface area for the heat pipe.
Fig. 2. Schematic of the earth as the heat sink for the heat In addition to the fact that the heat flux to the ground
pipe condenser section. is lower compared to the other options, the soil
around the condenser section of the heat pipe tends
to dry out, and thus add to the thermal resistance.
heat pipes; (2) the cooling ponds are designed to Table 1 presents a summary of the relative merits
withstand severe accidents. The pond is located next of the three possible heat sinks for the heat pipes that
to the reactor containment with the condenser section can be used to remove decay heat from the advanced
of the heat pipes exposed to the water in a reinforced L M R and M H T G R with conventional containment
concrete box with holes in it as shown in Fig. 1 ; (3) structure.
the bottom of the pool is filled with rock boulders and
clean, crushed rock (no fines). The pool has water CONCLUSION
over the top of the rock; (4) the pool is at ground Based on the discussion in this paper, it may be
level; and (5) the pool may be lined, but also has a concluded that among the three possible heat sinks, a
certain thickness of clay layer below the pool. passive water cooling pond is the most attractive heat
Heat will be transferred by natural convection cir- sink for the condenser section of the heat pipes used
culation of water from the condenser section of the to shutdown heat removal in the advanced LMR and

Table 1. Summary of the relative merits of the three possible heat sinks for the heat pipes used to remove decay heat from
the advanced L M R and M H T G R with conventional containment structure

The atmosphere Water pond The earth

Is the heat sink passive? Yes Yes Yes

Heat pipe condenser surface area requirement. Moderate Small Large
Are the heat pipes protected against extreme weather? No Yes Yes
Temperature fluctuations on the condenser side of the heat pipes due Can be large Moderate Small
to climatic changes
Is the cooling system protected against external threats, such as,
No Yes Yes
missiles, sabotage and military assault?
Is the technology available commercially? Yes Yes Yes

~ E 17:3-.D
142 M . M . RAZZAQUE

MHTGR design with conventional containment Dunn T. D., Silady F. A. and Goodjohn A. J. (1985) Trans.
structure. Am. Nucl. Soc. 50, 343.
Forsberg C. W. and Moses D. L. (1989) Report ORNL-
REFERENCES 6554, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Razzaque M. M., Pate M. B. and Shapiro H. N. (1989) Ann.
Coffield R. D., Wright R. F., Markley R. A. and Kalinowski nucl. Energy 16, 483.
J. E. (1985) Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc. 50, 337.