Countercurrent flow limited (CCFL) heat flux in the high flux isotope reactor (HFIR) fuel element

Technical Report · Fri Oct 12 00:00:00 EDT 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6361303· OSTI ID:6361303

Ruggles, A E

The countercurrent flow (CCF) performance in the fuel element region of the HFIR is examined experimentally and theoretically. The fuel element consists of two concentric annuli filled with aluminum clad fuel plates of 1.27 mm thickness separated by 1.27 mm flow channels. The plates are curved as they go radially outward to accomplish constant flow channel width and constant metal-to-coolant ratio. A full-scale HFIR fuel element mock-up is studied in an adiabatic air-water CCF experiment. A review of CCF models for narrow channels is presented along with the treatment of CCFs in system of parallel channels. The experimental results are related to the existing models and a mechanistic model for the annular'' CCF in a narrow channel is developed that captures the data trends well. The results of the experiment are used to calculate the CCFL heat flux of the HFIR fuel assembly. It was determined that the HFIR fuel assembly can reject 0.62 Mw of thermal power in the CCFL situation. 31 refs., 17 figs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6361303
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-11638; ON: DE91005601; TRN: 91-001725
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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REACTOR COOLING SYSTEMS
C CODES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLOW MODELS
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HEAT TRANSFER
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NUMERICAL DATA
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
RESEARCH REACTORS
TANK TYPE REACTORS
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THERMAL REACTORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
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