Investigation of flow asymmetry and instability in the liquid mercury target of the Spallation Neutron Source

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2000 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:20086960

Pointer, D; Ruggles, A; Wendel, M; Crye, J

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) will utilize a liquid mercury target placed in the path of a high-energy proton beam to produce neutrons for research activities. As the high-energy protons interact with the mercury target, the majority of the beam energy is converted to thermal energy. The liquid mercury must provide sufficient heat transfer to maintain the temperature of the target structure within the thermal limits of the structural materials. Therefore, the behavior of the liquid mercury flow must be characterized in sufficient detail to ensure accurate evaluation of heat transfer in the mercury target. A combination of experimental and computational methods is utilized to characterize the flow in these preliminary analyses. Preliminary studies of the liquid mercury flow in the SNS target indicate that the flow in the exit channel may exhibit multiple recirculation zones, flow asymmetries, and possibly large-scale flow instabilities. While these studies are not conclusive, they serve to focus the efforts of subsequent CFD modeling and experimental programs to better characterize the flow patterns in the SNS mercury target.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (US)
• OSTI ID: 20086960
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 82; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
ACCELERATOR FACILITIES
HEAT TRANSFER
LIQUID FLOW
LIQUID METALS
MERCURY
NEUTRON SOURCES
PROTON BEAMS
TARGETS