Establishment of calculation methodology and thermal analysis for the development of a water calorimeter

• Published in: Nuclear engineering and technology Vol. 52; no. 11; pp. 2620 - 2629
• Main Authors: Kang, M.Y, Kim, Junhyuck, Choi, H.D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Thermistor self-heating; Water calorimeter; Heat conductivity; Convection; Radiation transport
• ISSN: 1738-5733; 2234-358X

As an early stage in the development of a water calorimeter, this study established a computer simulation methodology for analyzing the thermal behavior of a water calorimeter based on radiation transport and energy deposition. As a result, this study developed a method wherein the energy deposition distribution, which is obtained by applying Monte Carlo methods in water calorimeters, is directly used as a heat source for the thermal analysis model. Based on the proposed method, heat transfer in a water vessel and the effect of thermistor self-heating were analyzed. Through an analysis of the water velocities with and without a water vessel, it was found that a water vessel can serve as a convection barrier. Furthermore, it was confirmed that when considering thermistor self-heating, the water temperature change at the thermistor location is 0.219 mK higher compared to that when the thermistor was not considered. Therefore, thermistor self-heating must be considered to analyze the thermal behavior of a water calorimeter more accurately.