Melt fingers and pool penetration into a miscible substrate. [LMFBR]

Technical Report · Wed Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:6870260

Epstein, M; Grolmes, M A; Fauske, H K

The object of this work was to analyze the melting of a horizontal slab of frozen material placed beneath a pool of warm liquid miscible with the molten phase of the slab. The difficulty which arose when attempting to develop an expression (or correlation) for the downward melting rate was the discovery that the needle-like jets, or fingers, of molten substrate material which penetrate into the overlying pool appear to control the melting process. Based on the assumption that the spacing between melt fingers is determined by Rayleigh-Taylor instability, it is shown herein that the flow within the fingers controls the pool penetration process. The Rayleigh-Taylor theory is also used to give an explanation of the discrepancy in pool penetration rate versus pool temperature data trends that has been reported in the literature. The differences between pool penetration in miscible and immiscible systems are discussed and recommendations for further experimental research are indicated.

• Research Organization: Fauske and Associates, Inc., Burr Ridge, IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-82NE37253
• OSTI ID: 6870260
• Report Number(s): DOE/NE/37253-T2; FAI-82/31; ON: DE83004511
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210500 -- Power Reactors
Breeding
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
ACCIDENTS
BREEDER REACTORS
CORE CATCHERS
CORIUM
ENERGY TRANSFER
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
FLUID MECHANICS
HEAT TRANSFER
HYDRAULICS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICS
MELTING
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR CORE DISRUPTION
REACTOR SAFETY
REACTORS
SAFETY