Heat transfer analysis through high-strength borated concrete for use as nuclear reactor biological shield

AbstractHeat transfer describes the exchange of thermal energy, between physical systems depending on the temperature and pressure, by dissipation of heat. Addition of borax (Na2B4O7) in the range of 0.5-1% by wt. to concrete improves the gamma radiation shielding capabilities of concrete by around 80% and may also influence the various heat transfer parameters. This work deals with the analysis of the heat transfer through a test specimen comprising a rectangular block of high strength borated concrete with Con Plast 430 as a suitable super-plasticizer, and thereby compute the average value of co-efficient of thermal conductivity (K) for it. Also one-dimensional steady state heat conduction analysis is carried out using empirical formulae and the corresponding results are verified using FEA methods applying ANSYS software.