GB935464A - Improvements in or relating to heat transfer arrangements - Google Patents

Abstract

935,464. Nuclear fuel elements. GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. Ltd. June 4, 1962 [June 19, 1961], No. 22043/61. Class 39 (4). [Also in Group XIII] A protective can for a nuclear fuel element has longitudinal fins or splitters 6 radiating from its surface to define separate flow passages A, B, C and D for the throughflow of cooling fluid, heat-exchange fins 5 also radiating from the surface of the can but to a distance less than that of the splitters 6 and being inclined to the general direction of coolant flow through the passages, partition plates 7 extending longitudinally of the passages and lying in a cylindrical surface defined by the tips of the fins 5, the plates 7 being spaced from the splitters 6 to provide openings 8 through which cooling fluid can pass to and from the fins 5, and baffle members 9 extending transversely between and radially as far as the splitters 6, the members 9 being inclined to the general direction of coolant flow through the passages at an angle equal, but of opposite sign, to the angle of inclination of the fins 5. The fins 5 may be formed integrally with the can and extend as helical members longitudinally of the can or be of herring-bone formation so that the fins in adjacent passages are inclined in opposite directions. The cooling fluid is caused to follow a plurality of paths in which it flows alternately between the fins 5 on one side of a partition plate 7 and between the baffle members 9 on the other side, undergoing a change in direction as it impinges upon the splitters 6. In order to minimize the overall impedance to coolant flow, the areas of the openings 8 should preferably equal the crosssectional areas of flow on both sides of the partition plates 7. The splitters 6 referred to above are straight but in certain arrangements it may be advantageous for them to be helical, in which ease the fins 5 may be straight, annular or helical and positioned so that they are inclined to the general direction of coolant flow through the resulting helically extending passages.