Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Stability analyses of density wave oscillations in channels with nonuniform heat fluxes

Conference · · Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6885463
Previous stability analyses of density wave oscillations have been restricted to channels with axially uniform heat fluxes. Thus the results of these analyses do not apply directly to real systems such as most types of heat exchangers and boiling water reactors (BWRs) in which nonuniform axial heat fluxes are nearly always present. Stability analyses using a realistic two-phase flow model and nonuniform heat fluxes, in which the effects of flux shape on stability are included, are essential to make accurate predictions about the stability of these systems. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of such analyses performed using the drift flux model and axially variable heat flux distributions relevant to BWRs and heat exchangers. In addition to the value of the final results on the quantitative prediction of stability, the intermediate solutions obtained also make possible more accurate and less expensive numerical linear stability analysis methods for BWRs by permitting the use of nonuniform heat fluxes in computational nodes.
Research Organization:
Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville
OSTI ID:
6885463
Report Number(s):
CONF-860610-
Conference Information:
Journal Name: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 52
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English