Validation of the sub-channel code F-COBRA-TF: Part I. Recalculation of single-phase and two-phase pressure loss measurements

The present paper deals with recalculations of single-phase and two-phase pressure loss measurements with the advanced two-phase, three-field sub-channel code F-COBRA-TF. Thereby, experimental data of both the OECD/NRC BFBT benchmark and in-house tests in AREVA NP's KATHY loop are used. The main goal of this paper is not to focus on a special new model or correlation but to give an overview how a complete pressure loss calculation for practical purposes can be carried out being based on a simplified and straightforward method to estimate sub-channel spacer pressure loss coefficients on the one hand and an advanced sub-channel code on the other hand.The pressure loss coefficients are calculated analytically and calibrated at available measurements of total single-phase bundle pressure loss. Thus, they are not adapted to any two-phase measurement and also do not depend on the sub-channel code they are used in.The results of the recalculations of the measurements especially demonstrate the capability of a three-field code to predict both single-phase and two-phase pressure losses with high accuracy, whereas the code is not based on conventional pressure loss correlations using two-phase multipliers but rather on interfacial friction correlations for each flow regime. Thereby, the F-COBRA-TF standard models - which are usually applied for all sorts of calculations (pressure loss, void distribution, lateral mixing, critical heat flux, etc.) - were used. It was not necessary to do special code tuning with respect to certain experiments.