Heat transfer to liquid metals: Specific features, methods of investigation, and main relationships

The main periods of investigations of heat transfer to liquid metals are considered. The specific features of liquid metals as coolants for nuclear power installations are discussed. The methods and the technologies used in the experiments to determine the values of the heat-transfer coefficients are described. The regularities of heat transfer to the liquid metals in round tubes are analyzed on the basis of the original experimental data. It is noted that the most reliable results, which are free from the effect of the contact thermal resistance on heat transfer, can be obtained only from the measured temperature distribution in the flow.