Experimental and Analytical Study on the Heat Transfer Characteristics in a Natural Circulation Loop for an Integral Type Reactor

Abstract

The heat transfer characteristics in a natural circulation loop for an integral type reactor were experimentally investigated by using the VISTA facility and steady-state natural circulation flow rates were acquired for various core powers and feed water flow rates. The experimental data were compared with the predictions from existing correlations of Duffey et al. (1987) and Vijayan et al. (2002). It was shown that Duffey et al. (1987)’s correlation for a two-phase natural flow predicted the experimental data well. Also the experimental data on the natural circulation in the primary loop of the VISTA facility were analyzed by using a best-estimate system analysis code, MARS. The MARS code predicted the overall natural circulation flow characteristics reasonably.