Figure 1 – A flanged immersion heater manufactured by WATTCO™ [3]
Immersion heaters are a type of electrical heater that are primarily used to heat liquids. As the name suggests, an immersion heater consists of metallic elements immersed within the liquid it is heating. The elements act as electrical resistors, which efficiently convert electrical energy into thermal energy which dissipates into the surrounding liquid thus heating it. Figure 1 shows a type of immersion heater manufactured by WATTCO™. This flanged heater uses numerous elements to increase the contact surface area with the fluid being heated to increase efficiency. [4, 5] Usually there is a sensor located within the contained liquid which sends signals to a control unit where temperature parameters are imputed to control the flanged heater. Immersion heaters are most commonly used in industrial settings. Electric heaters are commonly used to control the pressure within a pressurized water reactor, a common type of nuclear reactor, which can be seen in figure 2. In this type of nuclear reactor, a primary coolant (water at high pressure) is used to absorb the heat resulting from the controlled nuclear fission reaction. The heat is then transferred to the working fluid, which is water, using a heat exchanger. Due to the heat, the working fluid is converted to steam, which in turn drives the turbine to create electrical energy, which is ready for commercial use. Within the design of this reactor, the primary coolant must remain a liquid at a temperature of 321°C. [1] To ensure it does not boil, the loop must be maintained at a high pressure of 2250 psi. [1] To maintain and manage the overall pressure, an external vessel known as a pressurizer connected to the loop is used. The pressurizer is a tank filled with water and steam. There is an electric immersion heater located at the bottom of the tank, which can be a flanged heater. Typically, an 1800 kW capacity heater is required for a nuclear plant that produces almost 3000 MWe of electricity. [1] The steam pressure controls the overall pressure of the loop, while the pressure of the steam is controlled by the temperature of the pressurizer. When a sensor measures a drop in pressure, the electric heater is turned on. This heats the water, converting it to steam to raise the overall pressure within the loop. Thus pressure is a controlled parameter within the pressurized water reactor which is controlled by an electric heater. Should the pressure rise higher than required, a spray of cool water is discharged into the pressurizer to lower the temperature, thus lowering the amount of steam and lowering the pressure. [1, 6, 7]
Figure 2 – A schematic of a Pressurized Water Reactor with 4 steam generators [6]
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