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Title: Interferometric investigation of turbulently fluctuating temperature in an LMFBR outlet plenum geometry

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7138402· OSTI ID:7138402

A novel optical technique is described for the measurement of turbulently fluctuating temperature in a transparent fluid flow. The technique employs a Mach-Zehnder interferometer of extremely short field and a simple photoconductive diode detector. The system produces a nearly linear D.C. electrical analog of the turbulent temperature fluctuations in a small, 1 mm/sup 3/ volume. The frequency response extends well above 2500 Hz, and can be improved by the choice of a more sophisticated photodetector. The turbulent sodium mixing in the ANL 1/sup 1///sub 15/-scale FFTF outlet plenum is investigated with a scale model outlet mixing plenum, using flows of air. The scale design represents a cross section of the ANL outlet plenum, so that the average recirculating flow inside the test cell is two dimensional. The range of the instrument is 120/sup 0/F above the ambient air temperature. The accuracy is generally +-5/sup 0/F, with most of the error due to noise originating from building vibrations and room noise. The power spectral density of the fluctuating temperature has been observed experimentally at six different stations in the flow. A strong 300 Hz component is generated in the inlet region, which decays as the flow progresses along streamlines. The effect of the inlet Reynolds number and the temperature difference between the inlet flows on the power spectral density has also been investigated. Traces of the actual fluctuating temperature are included for the six stations.

Research Organization:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
E(11-1)-2245
OSTI ID:
7138402
Report Number(s):
COO-2245-29TR; TRN: 77-002020
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English