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Status report on the validation of COMMIX-1A for advanced liquid metal reactors with a distributed heat sink using EBR-II as a test bed

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/712829· OSTI ID:712829

The advanced reactor designs, SAFR by Rockwell International, and PRISM by General Electric, incorporate passive decay heat removal by the means of a reactor vessel auxiliary air cooling system (RVACS/PRISM; RACS/SAFR). The RVACS/RACS decay heat removal system involves direct passive decay heat removal from the guard vessel to a free convecting atmospheric air stream. The energy is transferred to the guard vessel by radiation from the reactor vessel. The reactor primary system comprises large distributed heat sinks and sources. The decay energy must be transferred by natural convection of sodium from the reactor core, a distributed heat source, to the reactor vessel surface, a distributed heat sink. It is desirable that the temperature difference between the reactor vessel and the core be at a minimum and that a minimum of stratification exist. COMMIX - a 3D thermal hydraulic code will be the primary tool for the analysis of the sodium natural convection and transport of the decay power from the reactor core to the reactor vessel. Modelling a distributed heat sink represents a substantial challenge for COMMIX. The purpose of this report is to describe the experiments used to develop a data base with a distributed sink that COMMIX can be validated against. EBR-II with substantial decay power, a large cold pool, extensive instrumentation, and a shield cooling system (distributed heat sink) represents an ideal test bed. This report represents the status as of July 1986 including the status of experiments and modelling.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
712829
Report Number(s):
ANL-SAFR--34; ANL-PRISM--34; ON: TI87025841
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English