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A phenomenological model of the thermal-hydraulics of convective boiling during the quenching of hot rod bundles: Part 2, Assessment of the model with steady-state and transient post-CHF data

Conference ·

After completing the thermal-hydraulic model developed in a companion paper, we performed assessment calculations of the model using steady-state and transient post-critical heat flux (CHF) data. This paper discusses the results of those calculations. The hot-patch model, in conjunction with the other thermal-hydraulic models, was capable of modeling the Winfrith post-CHF hot-patch experiments. The hot-patch model kept the wall temperatures at the specified levels in the hot-patch regions and did not allow any quench-front propagation from either the bottom or the top of the test section. Among the four Winfrith runs selected to assess the hot-patch model, the average deviation in hot-patch power predictions was 15.4%, indicating reasonable predictions of the amount of energy transferred to the fluid by the hot patch. The interfacial heat-transfer model tended to slightly under-predict the vapor temperatures. The maximum difference between calculated and measured vapor superheats was 20%, with a 10% difference for the remainder of the runs considered. The wall-to-fluid heat transfer was predicted reasonably well, and the predicted wall superheats were in reasonable agreement with measured data with a maximum relative error of less than 13%. The effects of pressure, test section power, and flow rate on the axial variation of tube wall temperature are predicted reasonably well for a large range of operating parameters. A comparison of the predicted and measured local wall. The thermal-hydraulic model in TRAC/PF1-MOD2 was used to predict the axial variation of void fraction as measured in Winfrith post-CHF tests. The predictions for reflood calculations were reasonable. The model correctly predicted the trends in void fraction as a result of the effect of pressure and power, with the effect of pressure being more apparent than that of power. 13 refs.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
5300791
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-91-4095; CONF-920804--1; ON: DE92005051
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English