Study of gas-liquid two-phase flow redistribution characteristics in the rod bundle channel using wire-mesh sensor

Abstract

In subchannel analysis, the gas and liquid flow distribution phenomenon plays an important role in understanding rod bundle channels’ two-phase turbulent mixing mechanism. This paper obtained gas-liquid flow distribution data inside a vertical coupled subchannel rod bundle channel by utilizing a double-set wire-mesh sensor (WMS). To achieve evolutions of two-phase flow distributions, one subchannel was injected with gas and water called the donor channel, and the other injected with water is called the receptor channel. Four axial locations (Z/Dh = 28.95, 57.90, 86.86, and 115.81) were measured for each flow condition to obtain the evolution of the flow distribution. 36 flow conditions were acquired with 〈jg〉 from 0.073 to 1.02 m·s−1 and 〈jl〉 from 0.93 to 1.86 m·s−1 at Z/Dh = 115.81, including bubbly, cap-bubbly, and slug flow. The gas flow distributions were obtained by the cross-correlation calculation of the phase distribution data measured by a double-set WMS. The gas-phase flow rate relative errors acquired by WMS and rotameters are within ± 10%. To obtain the liquid flow distribution, the inter-subchannel equal-slip ratio assumption was introduced, which is according to the truth that two-phase flow characteristics between the adjacent subchannel are similar for most cases in this study. Further, obtained two-phase flow distribution data were verified and evaluated by Han et al.’s drift-flux model, and the relative errors for most cases are less than ± 20%. Results show that, under bubbly flow, the two-phase flow redistribution is weak. 90% of the gas was restricted in the donor channel, and the liquid flow was approximately distributed in both channels. With the increment of void fraction, two-phase flow redistributions are more severe. The liquid-phase recirculation flow was found in the receptor channel, under cap-bubbly and slug flow, which results in a higher gas-liquid flow in the donor channel than in the receptor channel. The rules of two-phase flow distributions indicate that the liquid-phase flow redistribution is more moderate than the gas phase. The drastic change in the gas-phase flow redistribution starts with the cap-bubbly flow. In addition, the current two-phase flow data indicates that the two-phase flow redistribution between the donor and the receptor channels does not follow the equal-volume principle postulated in the existing two-phase turbulent mixing model. Furthermore, current data also imply the relationship between void and mass flux distribution is not linear as assumed in the existing two-phase turbulent mixing model.