skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Convective flow measurements in a heated cavity using digital imaging velocimetry

Abstract

During an accident, nuclear systems require devices that maintain long-term cooling of the nuclear fuel. This prevents the disruption of the fuel elements and other vital parts of the reactor that may result in the release of radioactivity. During this exponential decay, the nature of the cooling systems must be examined. This experimental study is primarily the examination of the natural convection flow between rectangular heating elements. Various flow patterns were studied. Convective flow in a liquid-filled heated cavity is investigated using a novel approach, digital imaging pulsed laser velocimetry. This method has several advantages over past methods such as hot wire anemometry and laser Doppler velocimetry. Digital imaging pulsed laser velocimetry is not only a method that supplied qualitative features but also quantitative information. The image is digitized and is manipulated to provide significant data such as centroids, gray levels, and other areas of interest in order to compute the velocity profiles. Each frame holds the equivalent of >1 Mbyte of information. The frame analysis is done with a PC/AT-compatible computer and an image processing unit in the laboratory, and the actual calculation of the flow trajectories is carried out on the VAX 8650 computing system.

Authors:
;  [1]
  1. Texas A M, College Station (USA)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
5873550
Report Number(s):
CONF-901101-
Journal ID: ISSN 0003-018X; CODEN: TANSA
Resource Type:
Conference
Journal Name:
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 62; Conference: American Nuclear Society (ANS) winter meeting, Washington, DC (USA), 11-15 Nov 1990; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-018X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS; FUEL ASSEMBLIES; NATURAL CONVECTION; FLOW VISUALIZATION; NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS; REACTOR ACCIDENTS; REACTOR SAFETY; HEAT TRANSFER; HYDRAULICS; VELOCIMETERS; IMAGE PROCESSING; AFTER-HEAT REMOVAL; DECAY; DIGITAL SYSTEMS; REACTOR SAFETY EXPERIMENTS; RECTANGULAR CONFIGURATION; ACCIDENTS; CONFIGURATION; CONVECTION; ENERGY TRANSFER; FLUID MECHANICS; MASS TRANSFER; MEASURING INSTRUMENTS; MECHANICS; NUCLEAR FACILITIES; POWER PLANTS; PROCESSING; REMOVAL; SAFETY; THERMAL POWER PLANTS; 220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety; 220100 - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Theory & Calculation

Citation Formats

Chavez, H L, and Hassan, Y. Convective flow measurements in a heated cavity using digital imaging velocimetry. United States: N. p., 1990. Web.
Chavez, H L, & Hassan, Y. Convective flow measurements in a heated cavity using digital imaging velocimetry. United States.
Chavez, H L, and Hassan, Y. 1990. "Convective flow measurements in a heated cavity using digital imaging velocimetry". United States.
@article{osti_5873550,
title = {Convective flow measurements in a heated cavity using digital imaging velocimetry},
author = {Chavez, H L and Hassan, Y},
abstractNote = {During an accident, nuclear systems require devices that maintain long-term cooling of the nuclear fuel. This prevents the disruption of the fuel elements and other vital parts of the reactor that may result in the release of radioactivity. During this exponential decay, the nature of the cooling systems must be examined. This experimental study is primarily the examination of the natural convection flow between rectangular heating elements. Various flow patterns were studied. Convective flow in a liquid-filled heated cavity is investigated using a novel approach, digital imaging pulsed laser velocimetry. This method has several advantages over past methods such as hot wire anemometry and laser Doppler velocimetry. Digital imaging pulsed laser velocimetry is not only a method that supplied qualitative features but also quantitative information. The image is digitized and is manipulated to provide significant data such as centroids, gray levels, and other areas of interest in order to compute the velocity profiles. Each frame holds the equivalent of >1 Mbyte of information. The frame analysis is done with a PC/AT-compatible computer and an image processing unit in the laboratory, and the actual calculation of the flow trajectories is carried out on the VAX 8650 computing system.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5873550}, journal = {Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)},
issn = {0003-018X},
number = ,
volume = 62,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990},
month = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990}
}

Conference:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that hold this conference proceeding.

Save / Share: