Low-power experimental study of the demand surface for annular geometry fuel elements with coolant upflow

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:5801698

Smith, A C ^[1]; Blake, J E; Childerson, M T; Ohrn, T R; Privette, R M ^[2]

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1. Westinghouse Savannah River Company, Aiken, SC (United States)
2. Babcock and Wilcox Company, OH (United States)

Analytical studies of the effects of power on flow instability in parallel channels have predicted that the Ledinegg flow instability, encountered as flow is decreased for typical operating power levels, would not be experienced at low power. These predictions indicate that at low power, the buoyancy effect is significant and may be greater than the friction loss effect. For a system in which the flow of coolant is upward, the increased buoyancy enhances flow in the channel. Under these conditions, as the flow rate is reduced and the void increases, the overall pressure loss decreases. That is, the demand curve turns downward (Fig. 1). Under this condition, flow instability does not occur. This testing was performed to confirm the predicted behavior and to provide data for benchmarking of computer codes used for predicting the performance of reactor fuel elements.

• OSTI ID: 5801698
• Report Number(s): CONF-930601--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 68
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220100* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Theory & Calculation
42 ENGINEERING
420400 -- Engineering-- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow
AFTER-HEAT REMOVAL
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLOW RATE
FLUID FLOW
FUEL ELEMENTS
HEAT TRANSFER
REACTOR CHANNELS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REMOVAL
SIMULATION
THERMAL ANALYSIS