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AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
InventorsJay S. Kaufman, John A. Kissinger
Estimating the term…
A compact bayonet tube type heat exchanger which finds particular application as an auxiliary heat exchanger for transfer of heat from a reactor gas coolant to a secondary fluid medium. The heat exchanger is supported within a vertical cavity in a reactor vessel intersected by a reactor coolant passage at its upper end and having a reactor coolant return duct spaced below the inlet passage. The heat exchanger includes a plurality of relatively short length bayonet type heat exchange tube assemblies adapted to pass a secondary fluid medium therethrough and supported by primary and secondary tube sheets which are releasibly supported in a manner to facilitate removal and inspection of the bayonet tube assemblies from an access area below the heat exchanger. Inner and outer shrouds extend circumferentially of the tube assemblies and cause the reactor coolant to flow downwardly internally of the shrouds over the tube bundle and exit through the lower end of the inner shroud for passage to the return duct in the reactor vessel.
A heat exchange arrangement for transferring heat from a reactor gas coolant to a secondary fluid medium comprising, in combination, vessel means defining a generally cylindrical cavity having a substantially vertical longitudinal axes, means defining an inlet passage intersecting said cavity adjacent the upper end thereof and enabling introduction of a high temperature reactor coolant into the upper end of said cavity, an exit passage intersecting said cavity at an elevation below said inlet passage, and a heat exchanger supported by said vessel means within said cavity, said heat exchanger including a primary tube sheet generally adjacent the lower end of said cavity, a plurality of heat transfer tubes supported by said primary tube sheet so as to extend upwardly within said cavity, said heat transfer tubes being adapted to receive a secondary fluid medium upwardly therein, a first shroud disposed circumferentially of said heat transfer tubes and having at least one flow passage formed therein adjacent said primary tube sheet, said first shroud extending upwardly from said primary tube sheet to at least the height of said heat transfer tubes and having a substantially closed wall upper portion and an outwardly flared lower portion, said lower portion having said at least one flow passage formed therethrough, and a secondary shroud substantially coaxial with said first shroud and extending upwardly within said cavity adjacent said inlet passage, said second shroud being isolated within said cavity and cooperative with said first shroud such that primary coolant entering said cavity flows downwardly within said coaxial shrouds and past said heat transfer tubes before exiting through said at least one flow passage.
A heat exchange arrangement for use in transferring heat from a reactor gas coolant to a secondary fluid medium comprising, in combination:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.