Effect of steam quality on two-phase flow in a natural circulation loop

Ｅｆｆｅｃｔｏｆｓｔｅａｍｑｕａｌｉｔｙｏｎｔｗｏ－ｐｈａｓｅｆｌｏｗｉｎａｎａｔｕｒａｌｃｉｒｃｕｌａｔｉｏｎｌｏｏｐＪｉａＨａｉ－Ｊｕｎ（贾海军）；ＷｕＳｈａｏ－Ｒｏｎｇ（吴少融）；ＷａｎｇＮｉｎｇ（王宁）ａｎｄＹａｏＳｉ－Ｍｉｎ（姚思民）（Ｉｎ...     

Influences of physical properties of two-phase mixture on voidfraction in an annular vessel

To keep the void fraction of two-phase hydrogen in the moderator cell of the cold neutron source (CNS) of China Advanced Research Reactor (CARR) to a specified range, an annular vessel with the same size as the actual moderator cell was used as test section. Deionized water and alcohol, sucrose, and sodium chloride solutions with different concentrations were used as working fluid to find out influences of physical properties, such as density, viscosity and surface tension, of the two-phase mixture on void fraction. The tests proved that the ratio of surface tension to density of liquid phase has great influence on void fraction: the larger the ratio, the smaller the void fraction. Since the ratio of surface tension to density of Freon 113 is lower than that of liquid hydrogen, Freon 113 can be used as a working fluid to study the void fraction in the two-phase hydrogen thermosiphon loop in the CNS of CARR and the results will be conservative.     

Thermoelastic analyses of cladding on beam transient of lead–bismuth cooled accelerator-driven system

The thermoelastic analyses of cladding for lead–bismuth cooled accelerator-driven system (ADS) are conducted for the beam transients. The beam transients are considered to be caused by the abnormal behavior of the accelerator and are peculiar to ADS. The program of the thermoelastic analyses is developed for the evaluation of the stresses of the cladding. This program is intended to analyze a fuel pin of a cylindrical model, and solves the thermoelastic problem by the use of the finite-element-method. The beam transients are analyzed by employing the ADS dynamic calculation code and the program of the thermoelastic analyses for the ADS designed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. As a result, the transformation of the beam shape does not cause the cladding failure. However, the ductile failure is caused by the beam incident position change in several seconds. These results are also compared with those of the creep analyses conducted in the previous study, and both the creep and the ductile failure are revealed to be caused by the beam incident position change. Consequently, the beam incident position change is concluded to have a high risk of cladding failure.     

Experimental research on dryout point of flow boiling in narrow annular channels

1 Introduction There are basically two classes of critical heat flux (CHF) situations: departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) and dryout (DO) [1]. DO is also sometimes known as burnout or departure from forced convective boiling in vapor-continuous flow. From the point of view of engineering, the CHF caused by the DO mechanism is of particular importance since boiling annular flow is one of the most common flow patterns in gas–liquid two-phase flow and occurs in a wide range of vapor qua…     

Flow characteristics of natural circulation in a lead–bismuth eutectic loop

Lead and lead-alloys are proposed in future advanced nuclear system as coolant and spallation target.To test the natural circulation and gas-lift and obtain thermal-hydraulics data for computational fluid dynamics(CFD) and system code validation, a lead–bismuth eutectic rectangular loop, the KYLIN-Ⅱ Thermal Hydraulic natural circulation test loop, has been designed and constructed by the FDS team. In this paper, theoretical analysis on natural circulation thermal-hydraulic performance is described and the steady-state natural circulation experiment is performed. The results indicated that the natural circulation capability depends on the loop resistance and the temperature and center height differences between the hot and cold legs. The theoretical analysis results agree well with,while the CFD deviate from, the experimental results.     

Investigation on two-phase flow instability in steam generator of integrated nuclear reactor

In the pressure range of 3-18MPa,high pressure steam-water two-phase flow density wave instability in vertical upward parallel pipes with inner diameter of 12mm is studied experimentally.The oscillation curves of two-phase flow instability and the effects of several parameters on the oscillation threshold of the system are obtained.Based on the small pertubation linearization method and the stability principles of automatic control system,a mathematical model is developed to predict the characteristics of density wave instability threshold.The predictions of the model are in good agreement with the experimental results.     

A high performance gas–liquid two-phase flow meter based on gamma-ray attenuation and scattering

The ability to precisely estimate the void fraction of multiphase flow in a pipe is very important in the petroleum industry. In this paper, an approach based on our previous works is proposed for predicting the void fraction independent of flow regime and liquid phase density changes in gas–liquid two-phase flows. Implemented technique is a combination of dual modality densitometry and multi-beam gamma-ray attenuation techniques. The detection system is comprised of a single energy fan beam,two transmission detectors, and one scattering detector. In this work, artificial neural network(ANN) was also implemented to predict the void fraction percentage independent of the flow regime and liquid phase density changes. Registered counts in three detectors and void fraction percentage were utilized as the inputs and output of ANN, respectively. By applying the proposed methodology, the void fraction was estimated with a mean relative error of less than just 1.2480%.     

Structural,electrical and magnetic measurements on oxide layers grown on 316L exposed to liquid lead–bismuth eutectic

Fast reactors and spallation neutron sources may use lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) as a coolant. Its physical, chemical, and irradiation properties make it a safe coolant compared to Na cooled designs. However, LBE is a corrosive medium for most steels and container materials. The present study was performed to evaluate the corrosion behavior of the austenitic steel 316L (in two different delivery states). Detailed atomic force microscopy, magnetic force microscopy, conductive atomic force microscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscopy analyses have been performed on the oxide layers to get a better understanding of the corrosion and oxidation mechanisms of austenitic and ferritic/martensitic stainless steel exposed to LBE. The oxide scale formed on the annealed 316L material consisted of multiple layers with different compositions, structures, and properties. The innermost oxide layer maintained the grain structure of what used to be the bulk steel material and shows two phases, while the outermost oxide layer possessed a columnar grain structure.     

Effect of steam quality on two—phase flow in a netural circulation loop

Test pressures are 1.0-4.0MPa,heating powers 27-190kW,inlet subcoolings 5-80℃,water used as coolant,and steam quality at the outlet of test section is less than 0.05,These test conditions cover the parameters for a typical 200MW heating reactor.The experimental results show that the stema quality is the dominant factor in a natural circulation system with low pressure and low steam quality about the effect of system pressure,heating power and inlet subcooling on the flow rate,relative oscilatroy amplitude and oscilatory region of flow rate.     

Effect of Rotational Transform on Thermal Transport in Stellarator–Heliotron Plasmas on LHD

Experimental evidence that indicates a positive effect of rotational transform on thermal transport has been shown for electron cyclotron heated plasmas on large helical device (LHD). Although this positive dependence was suggested by earlier scaling studies on energy confinement time, there was a concern that rotational transform is strongly correlated with another major non-dimensional parameter, that is, aspect ratio, in stellarator–heliotron systems. A careful experiment to exclude correlation between these two non-dimensional parameters was carried out on LHD by means of combining helical coil pitch control and limiter insertion. Plasmas with similar aspect ratio but different rotational transform have been compared in terms of global energy confinement time and local heat diffusivity. Energy confinement time increases with the rotational transform. Also the comparison of plasmas dimensionally similar in terms of normalized gyro-radius, collisionality, normalized pressure and aspect ratio has indicated that thermal transport improves with rotational transform. Since the plasmas studied here are dominated by turbulent transport rather than neoclassical transport, the identified feature, common to toroidal plasmas with tokamak, will stimulate the challenge to resolve the origin of the favorable effect of poloidal field and the compatibility with drift turbulence theory.     

A comprehensive study on neutronics of a lead–bismuth eutectic cooled accelerator-driven sub-critical system for long-lived fission product transmutation

The aim of this study is to investigate the high-level waste (HLW) transmutation and fissile breeding potentials of a lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) cooled accelerator-driven system (ADS) for the various configurations (the target radius, R_T = 10–50 cm and the radial thickness of the sub-critical core, δ_SC = 50–80 cm) and for the various fuel compositions (the fuel volume fraction, VF_F = 10%, 12%, 15% and 20% and the fissile fraction, FF = 10–24%) under sub-critical condition. The long-lived fission products (LLFPs: ⁹⁹Tc, ¹²⁹I and ¹³⁵Cs nuclides) and the uranium mono carbide (UC) ceramic fuel are considered as the HLW and the fissile fuel, respectively. The neutronic calculations have been performed per the incident proton (1000 MeV) with the high-energy Monte Carlo code MCNPX in coupled neutron and proton mode using the LA150 library. The numerical results bring out that the case of R_T = 30 cm, δ_SC = 80 cm, VF_F = 10% and FF = 23% is the optimum configuration and fuel composition, from the energy gain point of view, and has a high neutronic performance for an effective LLFP transmutation and fissile breeding.     

Progress on the development of H-concentration probes in eutectic lead–lithium: Synthesis and characterization of electrochemical sensor materials

Dynamic tritium concentration measurement in lithium–lead eutectic (17% Li–83% Pb) is of major interest for a reliable tritium testing program in ITER TBM and for an experimental proof of tritium self-sufficiency in liquid metal breeding systems. Potentiometric hydrogen sensors for molten lithium–lead eutectic have been designed at the Electrochemical Methods Lab at Institut Quimic de Sarria (IQS) at Barcelona and are under development and qualification. The probes are based on the use of solid state electrolytes and works as Proton Exchange Membranes (PEM).In this work, the following compounds have been synthesized in order to be tested as PEM H-probes: BaCeO₃, BaCe_0.9Y_0.1O_3?δ, SrCe_0.9Y_0.1O_3?δ and Sr(Ce_0.9–Zr_0.1)_0.95Yb_0.05O_3?δ. Potentiometric measurements of the synthesized ceramic elements have been performed at different hydrogen concentrations at 500 °C. In this campaign, a fixed and known hydrogen pressure has been used in the reference electrode. The sensors constructed using the proton conductor elements BaCeO₃, SrCe_0.9Y_0.1O_3?δ and Sr(Ce_0.9–Zr_0.1)_0.95Yb_0.05O_3?δ exhibited quite stable output potential and its value was quite close to the theoretical value calculated with the Nernst equation (deviation less than 100 mV). Unstable measurement was obtained using BaCe_0.9Y_0.1O_3?δ as a solid state electrolyte in the sensor.     

An optimized numerical method to pre-researching the performance of solid-phase oxygen control in a non-isothermal lead–bismuth eutectic loop

In the present work, a new transient calculation method for parameters that can be used to evaluate the ability of oxygen control in a non-isothermal lead-bismuth eutectic(LBE) loop with solid-phase oxygen control was proposed. It incorporates the dissolution process of PbO particles and the oxygen mass transfer process, and an optimized method was used for finding out the optimized oxygen mass transfer coefficient. In numerical terms, three mass transfer models were simultaneously applied, and ...     

An optimized numerical method to pre-researching the performance of solid-phase oxygen control in a non-isothermal lead–bismuth eutectic loop

In the present work, a new transient calculation method for parameters that can be used to evaluate the ability of oxygen control in a non-isothermal lead-bismuth eutectic(LBE) loop with solid-phase oxygen control was proposed. It incorporates the dissolution process of PbO particles and the oxygen mass transfer process, and an optimized method was used for finding out the optimized oxygen mass transfer coefficient. In numerical terms, three mass transfer models were simultaneously applied, and ...     

Effect of metal ion location in reaction medium on formation process and structure of PtCu–CuO nanoparticles supported on carbon and γ-Fe2O3

The process of nanoparticle formation by radiochemical synthesis in a heterogeneous system has been investigated considering the effects of the metal ion location in the reaction medium. PtCu nanoparticles supported on carbon and γ-Fe₂O₃ were synthesized using a high-energy electron beam. The metal ions in the precursor were categorized as those dissolved in solution, adsorbed on support, and precipitated. The ratio of metal ions in the solution was varied prior to the electron beam irradiation and its effects on the synthesized particle structures were examined. The nanoparticles were characterized by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. A PtCu alloy and CuO were immobilized on the support in all the samples. The PtCu alloy nanoparticle composition depended on the Cu ion content in the solution. The nanoparticle formation mechanism could be explained using the obtained results. Metal ions present in the solution resulted in formation of the alloy. The adsorbed ions also contributed to the alloy formation by desorbing from the support when irradiated. On the other hand, alloy formation with Pt from the precipitated Cu ions was found to be difficult.     

Effect of He-pre-injection on dislocation loop formation and irradiation-induced segregation of Fe–12%Cr–15%Mn austenitic steel

The effect of He-injection on irradiation-induced segregation of aging treated Fe–12%Cr–15%Mn austenitic steels, which are candidate materials as the reduced radio-activation of structure material for nuclear and/or fusion reactors was investigated by using the 1250 kV high voltage electron microscope (HVEM) connected with an ion accelerator. The Fe–Mn–Cr steel has been irradiated at 573 K by three irradiation modes of single electron-beam irradiation, electron-beam irradiation after He-injection and electron/He⁺-ion dual-beam irradiation in a HVEM. Irradiation-induced segregation analyses were carried out by an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX) in a 200 kV FE-TEM with beam diameter of about 0.5 nm. Dislocation loops with strain contrast were formed during irradiation and the loop numbers density increased rapidly with irradiation dose for He-pre-injected specimens. Voids were not observed after irradiations with three irradiation modes up to 5.4 dpa at 573 K. Irradiation-induced segregations of Cr and Mn near grain boundary were observed in each irradiation condition, but the amounts of Mn segregation decreased in the cases of electron/He⁺-ion dual-beam irradiation compared with single electron-beam and electron-beam irradiation after He-injection conditions.     

Effect of Sodium Nitrate on the Diffusion of Cl− and I− in Compacted Bentonite

For safety assessment of TRU waste disposal, the effective diffusion coefficients (D, _e ) for Cl^? and I^? in compacted bentonite (Kunigel V1) were determined as a function of NaNO₃ concentration, ranging from 0.01 to 5 mol/dm₃. The D_e values for Cl^? and I^? increased from approximately 10^?12 to 10^?11 m²/s with increasing NaNO₃ concentration. The capacity factor α, indicative of the effective porosity, also increased with increasing NaNO₃ concentration. The maximum α values of 0.21 for Cl^? and 0.24 for I^? at 5 mol/dm³ NaNO₃ concentration were lower than the total porosity of compacted bentonite (0.40), suggesting an anion exclusion effect. Therefore, the increases in the D_e values were interpreted in terms of the decrease in anion exclusion. The D_e values for Cl^? and I^?, normalized by their diffusivities in bulk water, were found to increase in proportion to the α values in a log-log plot, while the D_e values in porous media generally increase in proportion to the total porosity. This relationship between the logD_e and the log α is considered to be derived from the lower effective porosities for Cl^? and I^? than the total porosity in compacted bentonite due to anion exclusion.     

Effect of ion irradiation on structure and thermal evolution of the Ni–C60 hybrid systems

We report on the thermal response of the transition metal/fullerene thin hybrid multilayers, pristine and ion-modified, i.e., Ni/C₆₀/Ni and Ni/a-C/Ni (a-C amorphous carbon), both prepared on the MgO(1 0 0) monocrystalline substrate. The multilayer sequences were gradually annealed up to high temperatures and their structures were inspected using several analytical techniques. The inspection evidenced differences in the evolution of the virgin and ion-irradiated systems. In pristine (non-irradiated) composites (analyzed in the previous experiment) a significant part of the fullerene molecules out-diffused during annealing < 500 °C. At temperatures around (and above) 500 °C fullerenes underwent (in the vicinity of Ni) massive fragmentation and conversion to a-C. Very high temperature (1000 °C) annealing resulted in the fabrication of an array of micrometer-sized octagonal pits and rod-type particles emerging from the encompassing a-C + Ni mixture. Ion irradiated multilayers (analyzed in the current experiment) developed in a different way. Thermal annealing < 500 °C had only a minor effect on the integrity and composition of the system. Higher temperatures > 500 °C, however, induced a forceful phase separation. The nominal annealing at 1000 °C resulted in the formation of facetted, sub-micrometer-sized (round, plate and rod-type) particles (with a Ni core and a thin a-C rind) that were spread individually (without a complex a-C + Ni matrix) on a thin a-C/MgO(1 0 0) interface. The main axes of the particles were oriented according to the crystallographic axis of the MgO(1 0 0) substrate.