Abstract
It is well known that a vapor explosion can result when molten is suddenly brought into contact with a cold volatile liquid such as water. However, the rapid melt fragmentation and heat transfer processes that occur during a propagating melt-water interaction are poorly understood. Experiments were carried out in the present work to investigate the fragmentation processes for single molten metal drops in water. To determine the time scale for the fragmentation of a drop, liquid metal drops (in thermal equilibrium with the water) as well as hot molten drops surrounded by a vapor film were subjected to underwater shocks with overpressures of up to about 20 MPa. In the hot molten drop tests, the induction time for the initiation of the explosion is typically less than 100 {mu}s; at a corresponding time in the cold drop tests, very little or no direct hydrodynamic fragmentation of the drop has occurred. Therefore, in the hot drop case the fragmentation of the drop is dominated by thermal effects; i.e., the heat transfer from the melt to the water leads to violent boiling, pressurization, and drop fragmentation. The melt-water interaction consists of several cycles involving bubble growth and collapse. The strength of the
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Citation Formats
Frost, D L, and Ciccarelli, G.
Propagation mechanisms of molten fuel/moderator interactions.
Canada: N. p.,
1991.
Web.
Frost, D L, & Ciccarelli, G.
Propagation mechanisms of molten fuel/moderator interactions.
Canada.
Frost, D L, and Ciccarelli, G.
1991.
"Propagation mechanisms of molten fuel/moderator interactions."
Canada.
@misc{etde_10157143,
title = {Propagation mechanisms of molten fuel/moderator interactions}
author = {Frost, D L, and Ciccarelli, G}
abstractNote = {It is well known that a vapor explosion can result when molten is suddenly brought into contact with a cold volatile liquid such as water. However, the rapid melt fragmentation and heat transfer processes that occur during a propagating melt-water interaction are poorly understood. Experiments were carried out in the present work to investigate the fragmentation processes for single molten metal drops in water. To determine the time scale for the fragmentation of a drop, liquid metal drops (in thermal equilibrium with the water) as well as hot molten drops surrounded by a vapor film were subjected to underwater shocks with overpressures of up to about 20 MPa. In the hot molten drop tests, the induction time for the initiation of the explosion is typically less than 100 {mu}s; at a corresponding time in the cold drop tests, very little or no direct hydrodynamic fragmentation of the drop has occurred. Therefore, in the hot drop case the fragmentation of the drop is dominated by thermal effects; i.e., the heat transfer from the melt to the water leads to violent boiling, pressurization, and drop fragmentation. The melt-water interaction consists of several cycles involving bubble growth and collapse. The strength of the interaction was not found to be a strong function of initial shock pressure (for molten tin drops with trigger pressures of up to 20 MPa), but depends on the thermal energy in the melt: high-temperature thermite drops generated a larger first bubble than lower temperature melt drops. A model for the fine fragmentation process for a hot drop is proposed that is based on thermal effects. The fragmentation processes governed by thermal effects observed in the present experiments are expected to play an important role in the escalation of a local interaction to a large-scale coherent vapor explosion, and are not accounted for in current transient models for propagating vapor explosions.}
place = {Canada}
year = {1991}
month = {Jun}
}
title = {Propagation mechanisms of molten fuel/moderator interactions}
author = {Frost, D L, and Ciccarelli, G}
abstractNote = {It is well known that a vapor explosion can result when molten is suddenly brought into contact with a cold volatile liquid such as water. However, the rapid melt fragmentation and heat transfer processes that occur during a propagating melt-water interaction are poorly understood. Experiments were carried out in the present work to investigate the fragmentation processes for single molten metal drops in water. To determine the time scale for the fragmentation of a drop, liquid metal drops (in thermal equilibrium with the water) as well as hot molten drops surrounded by a vapor film were subjected to underwater shocks with overpressures of up to about 20 MPa. In the hot molten drop tests, the induction time for the initiation of the explosion is typically less than 100 {mu}s; at a corresponding time in the cold drop tests, very little or no direct hydrodynamic fragmentation of the drop has occurred. Therefore, in the hot drop case the fragmentation of the drop is dominated by thermal effects; i.e., the heat transfer from the melt to the water leads to violent boiling, pressurization, and drop fragmentation. The melt-water interaction consists of several cycles involving bubble growth and collapse. The strength of the interaction was not found to be a strong function of initial shock pressure (for molten tin drops with trigger pressures of up to 20 MPa), but depends on the thermal energy in the melt: high-temperature thermite drops generated a larger first bubble than lower temperature melt drops. A model for the fine fragmentation process for a hot drop is proposed that is based on thermal effects. The fragmentation processes governed by thermal effects observed in the present experiments are expected to play an important role in the escalation of a local interaction to a large-scale coherent vapor explosion, and are not accounted for in current transient models for propagating vapor explosions.}
place = {Canada}
year = {1991}
month = {Jun}
}