Experimental investigation on distribution of boric acid in a vertical 1 × 2 rod array channel

Abstract

During the reactor operation, the mixing mass flow of boron acid caused by diversion cross-flow, turbulent mixing and void drift changes the boron concentration distribution in the coolant and affects the amount of boron in the Chalk River Unidentified Deposit (CRUD). Accumulation of boron within the porous crud layer on the fuel rods in the cores of pressured water reactors (PWR) results in the crud-induced power shift (CIPS), threatening the operation safety of reactors. In order to obtain the mixing mass flow of boric acid between adjacent channels, a vertical test channel containing two subchannels simulating a PWR fuel rod bundle is constructed. Using this channel, flow distributions and mixing mass flow of boric acid are measured for single-phase and two-phase air–water flows. The measurements show that the boric acid distribution is affected by turbulent mixing for single-phase flow and the mixing mass flow of boric acid increases with the Reynolds number. For two-phase flow, the bubble-induced turbulence enhances the turbulence intensity of the liquid flow, the mixing mass flow of boric acid increases with the increase of void drift and reaches the maximum in the slug flow. The experimental data is used to support the development and validation of a new transverse source term model of boron mixing. The comparison result shows the significant improvement of the code prediction.