Experimental Simulation of Hydrodynamics and Heat Transfer in Bubble and Slug Flow Regimes in a Heavy Liquid Metal

Abstract

For the confirmation of the claimed design properties of a reactor plant with a heavy liquid-metal coolant, computational and theoretical studies should be performed in order to justify its safety. As one of the basic scenarios of an accident, the leakage of water into the liquid metal is considered in the case of steam generator tube decompression. The most important in the analysis of such a kind of accidents are questions concerning the motion and heat exchange of steam bubbles in the steam generator and the probability of blocking the flow area owing to freezing coolant, since the temperature of boiling feedwater in the steam generator can become lower than the melting point of lead. In this paper, we present main approaches and relationships used for the simulation of the motion of gas bubbles and heat transfer between bubbles and liquid metal flow. A brief description of the HYDRA-IBRAE/LM computational code that can be used to analyze emergency situations in a liquid metal-cooled reactor facility is also presented. It should be noted that the existing experimental data on the motion and heat transfer of gas bubbles in a heavy liquid metal are insufficient. For this reason, in order to verify the HYDRA-IBRAE/LM code models, experiments have been performed on the cooling of liquid lead by argon and on the motion of gas bubbles in the Rose’s alloy. In particular, a change in the temperature of the coolant over time has been studied, and the void fraction of gas at different flow rates of gas has been measured. A detailed description of the experiments and a comparison of the results of the calculations with the experimental data are presented. The analysis of uncertainties made it possible to reveal the main factors that exert the greatest effect on the results of calculations. The numerical analysis has shown that the models incorporated into the HYDRA-IBRAE/LM code allow one to describe to a sufficient degree of confidence the process of cooling liquid lead melt when argon bubbles pass through it, simulating the flow of water into the liquid metal in the course of steam generator tube rupture.