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Development and validation of a model for predicting direct heat transfer from the fuel to droplets in the post dryout regime

Conference ·
OSTI ID:22977488
; ; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Reactor Engineering Division Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai-400085 (India)
  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)
Following dryout after a large loss of coolant accident, but before eventual final quenching of the fuel, the overheated fuel is cooled by a flow of superheated vapor with entrained saturated liquid droplets. The main mechanism for cooling the cladding is convective heat transfer to the superheated vapor, with this vapor in turn cooled by evaporation into it of the saturated droplets. An additional mechanism that is not normally considered explicitly is the cooling of the metal by direct droplet impingement of non-wetting droplets. It is difficult to measure and to analyze, and it is believed probably to contribute relatively little to the cooling, but it could be helpful additional cooling mechanism. In this paper is published validation of a simple analytical model of the heat removed from the wall during the few milliseconds that a non-wetting droplet is in 'contact' with the wall. It is found that the model's estimates of the heat removal are consistent with such limited experimental evidence as is available, paving the way for incorporation of the model into computations of post dryout heat transfer. (authors)
Research Organization:
American Nuclear Society - ANS, Thermal Hydraulics Division, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
OSTI ID:
22977488
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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