Abstract
The experimental facility VULCAN was setup to study the fuel-coolant interaction (FCI) phenomena in a postulated severe accident of light water reactors. The heating system is important for the facility to prepare molten material in a crucible. This article is concerned with the design of the heating system, which applies electromagnetic induction heating method. The COMSOL code was employed to simulate the induction heating characteristics of a graphite crucible under different current and frequency of the work coil (inductor). Given a frequency, the relationship between the crucible’s average temperature and the inductor’s current is obtained, which is instrumental to select the power supply of the induction heating system. Meanwhile, the skin effect of induction heating is analyzed to guide the choice of frequency and inductor of the heating system. According to the simulation results, the induction heating system of frequency 47 kHz is suitable for the experiment, with a good agreement in temperature between the measured and the predicted.
Highlights
During a hypothetical severe accident in light water reactors (LWR), molten fuel may get contact with coolant, resulting in fuel-coolant interactions (FCI)
During a severe accident of a nuclear power plant, the steam explosion may cause a strong shock wave that affects the availability of equipment in the containment and even destroy the integrity of the pressure vessel and containment [2]. e steam explosions were extensively investigated by many research projects, including the OECD/NEA projects SERENA Phase I and Phase II launched in 2002 and 2008, respectively [3, 4], and both experiment and simulation were directed to reduce the uncertainty caused by material properties and experimental conditions for steam explosions
E present study is concerned with the development of a small-scale test facility, named the VULCAN (Violent interaction of molten fUeL with CoolANt) facility, which is conceived to perform fundamental experiment of hightemperature single droplet falling into a water pool under well-controlled conditions, with the objective to investigate the physical mechanisms of fuel-coolant interactions
Summary
During a hypothetical severe accident in light water reactors (LWR), molten fuel (corium) may get contact with coolant (water), resulting in fuel-coolant interactions (FCI). The heat transfer area between the melt and coolant will increase rapidly, and the time scale of heat transfer becomes much smaller than the time scale of decompression, which may lead to the generation of shock wave. During a severe accident of a nuclear power plant, the steam explosion may cause a strong shock wave that affects the availability of equipment in the containment and even destroy the integrity of the pressure vessel and containment [2]. E steam explosions were extensively investigated by many research projects, including the OECD/NEA projects SERENA Phase I and Phase II launched in 2002 and 2008, respectively [3, 4], and both experiment and simulation were directed to reduce the uncertainty caused by material properties and experimental conditions for steam explosions. Observation window Gas vent Pressure Gage Flow-meter Reducing Valve Stop Valve
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
