Design of experimental facility for helium gas component testing

The current state-of-the-art helium gas test loops for component testing are constrained by the maximum operating temperatures, pressures, and flow rates of such facilities. Idaho National Laboratory is designing a new experimental facility known as HECTOR (HElium Component Testing Out-of-pile Research), which is a helium gas test loop for evaluating the performance of components to helium gas pressures, temperatures, and flow rates up to 8 MPa, 800 °C, and 0.15 kg/s, respectively. The construction of this facility will enable researchers to perform experiments across a wide range of Reynolds and Nusselt numbers, which could result in the maturation of technology for high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) components.