Experimental study of two-dimensional thermal-hydraulic behavior in core during reflood phase of PWR LOCA.

Abstract

Two-dimensional effects on the core cooling behavior during the reflood phase of a PWR-LOCA were experimentally studied by performing four tests with various radial core power profiles under the same total power and initial core stored energy conditions using the Slab Core Test Facility (SCTF). The heat transfer was enhanced and the cladding temperature was reduced for the higher and average power bundles in the steep radial power profile test especially at the upper elevation. The effect of radial power profile on the cladding temperature was quantitatively evaluated. For all tests with different radial power profiles, the collapsed water level in the upper plenum became higher in the hot leg side and the quench in the upper half of the core was delayed in the bundles corresponding to the outer bundles of a PWR core. The delay of the quench is considered to be caused by a flow stagnation trend in those bundles because the pressure in the outer bundles became higher than the pressure in the inner bundles due to the nonuniform water accumulation in the upper plenum.