Studies on a High Temperature Regenerative Heat Exchanger for Closed Cycle MHD Power Generation : Heat Transfer Analysis for the Combustion Chamber

Abstract

Heat transfer processes in the combustion chamber of a pebble bed regenerative heat exchanger have been analyzed numerically for heating, evacuation, and argon heating periods successively. The calculated results well explain the measured temperature change at the top of the pebble bed. This computer code, which simulates the heat transfer processes for the combustion chamber, is coupled with that for the heat storage pebble bed to allow investigation of the overall unsteady thermal performance of a heat exchanger under the continuous cyclic operation. The analytical results point out that the geometrical optimization both for the combustion chamber and the heat storage bed is important for the improvement of the thermal performance of a regenerative heat exchanger.