Flow behavior of volume-heated boiling pools: implications with respect to transition phase accident conditions

Journal Article · Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1979 · Nucl. Technol.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5533018

Ginsberg, T ^[1]; Jones, Jr, O C; Chen, J C

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1. Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY

Observations of two-phase flow fields in single-component volume-heated boiling pools were made. Photographic observations, together with pool-average void fraction measurements, indicate that the churn-turbulent flow regime is stable for superficial vapor velocities up to nearly five times the Kutateladze dispersal limit. Within this range of conditions, a churn-turbulent drift flux model provides a reasonable prediction of the pool-average void fraction data. An extrapolation of the data to transition phase accident conditions suggests that intense boilup could occur where the pool-average void fraction would be >0.6 for steel vaporization rates equivalent to power levels >1% of nominal liquid-metal fast breeder reactor power density. The extended stability of bubbly flow to unusually large vapor fluxes and void fractions, observed in some experiments, is a major unresolved issue.

• OSTI ID: 5533018
• Journal Information: Nucl. Technol.; (United States), Vol. 46:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
LOSS OF FLOW
POOL BOILING
SIMULATION
STEELS
TURBULENT FLOW
TWO-PHASE FLOW
URANIUM DIOXIDE
VOID FRACTION
ACCIDENTS
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ALLOYS
BOILING
BREEDER REACTORS
CHALCOGENIDES
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
FLUID FLOW
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTORS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM OXIDES
220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety
210500 - Power Reactors
Breeding