Effect of Slurry Physical Properties on Heat Exchangers and Pump Characteristics (open access)

Effect of Slurry Physical Properties on Heat Exchangers and Pump Characteristics

Design calculations were made for a system consisting of a pump, one hundred feet of pipe, and a heat exchanger to remove 1 Mw of heat from various aqueous thorium oxide slurries. The rheological properties of the slurries were varied over a range of yield stresses from 0 to 1.5 lb/sq ft and of coefficients of rigidity from 1/2 to 2 centipoise. Two different cases were studied: a heat exchanger having fixed axial and radial delta T in which the tube length was allowed to vary and a heat exchanger having fixed tube length in which the axial and radial delta T were allowed to vary. It was shown that the pump power must be increased by a factor of 15 to 30 in order to maintain satisfactory operation of the heat exchanger as the slurry yield stress is increased form 0 to 1.5 lb/sq ft. However the pump power is essentially independent of heat exchanger tube diameter for any given slurry. The rated capacity of a slurry heat exchange is essentially independent of slurry yield stress and coefficient of rigidity, provided that the tube velocity can be suitably increased as the slurry yield stress in increased.
Date: June 10, 1957
Creator: Thomas, D. G.
System: The UNT Digital Library