Heat transfer model to predict the thermal behavior of the UTSI coal fired flow facility superheater test module

A study was undertaken to investigate the thermal phenomena occurring in the superheater test module, one of the components in the flow train of the Coal Fired Flow Facility at The University of Tennessee Space Institute. This facility models the components that are envisioned to be part of an integrated magnetohydrodynamic/steam power plant. The purpose of the superheater test module is to simulate the bottoming cycle of a conventional steam plant.

A FORTRAN computer code was extensively modified in order to model the thermal behavior of the superheater. The model that evolved was one-dimensional steady state and considered thermal transfer via radiation and convection. Results of the analysis were compared against experimentally obtained data from tests conducted in the facility.

The purpose of the study was to determine the magnitudes of fouling inhibits thermal transfer from the gas to the tubes of the heat exchangers in the system. Three case studies were made by imposing the different fouling conditions into the system in each case, with Case 3 showing the best results. Excellent agreement was achieved in modeling the gas temperature and cumulative heat loss distributions throughout the test module. The investigation also demonstrated that fouling decreased the performance of the superheater by about 23%. An estimation of the thermal conductivity of the fouling deposits was made and compared favorably to other results.