Fig. 1. Overall design diagram

Fig. 2. Structural design of hot-side tower and high-temperature heat pipes (a), cold-side tower and cooling heat pipes (b), high-temperature heat pipes (c), and cooling heat pipes (d)

Fig. 3. Diagram of heat-pipe molten salt reactor (a) and power generation system (b)

Fig. 4. Schematic and parameters of the hot-side tower

Fig. 5. Layout diagram and parameters of the thermoelectric generator

Fig. 6. Schematic and parameters of the cold-side tower (a) Front view, (b) Vertical view

Fig. 7. One-third of the model (a) and thermoelectric generator (b) after model simplification

Fig. 8. Schematic of the working principle of a heat pipe

Fig. 9. Grid division (a) and independence verification (b)

Fig. 10. Overall temperature distribution (a), temperature distribution of the generator (b) and local temperature distribution of the generator (c) at the power of 40 kW

Fig. 11. Temperature distribution of each layer of the generator (a) Side, (b) Top

Fig. 12. System temperature contour at power values (a) 46 kW, (b) 44 kW, (c) 42 kW, (d) 40 kW, (e) 38 kW, (f) 36 kW

Fig. 13. Temperature variation curves at different power values

Fig. 14. Heat utilization rate at different power values