Modeling of heat transfer and solidification in LIVE L3A experiment

In the field of research for Severe Accidents in Nuclear Reactors, and more specifically In-Vessel Corium Retention, prediction of transient heat loads on the vessel wall is necessary, which involves a number of complex physical and chemical phenomena. In this framework, understanding of the interfa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of heat and mass transfer 2013-03, Vol.58 (1-2), p.691-701
Main Authors: Pham, Quynh Trang, Seiler, Jean Marie, Combeau, Hervé, Gaus-Liu, Xiaoyang, Kretzschmar, Frank, Miassoedov, Alexei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crusts
Engineering Sciences
Heat transfer
Materials
Mathematical models
Melts
Molten corium
Mushy zone
Planar front
Pools
Solidification
Thermal hydraulics
Vessels
Walls
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the field of research for Severe Accidents in Nuclear Reactors, and more specifically In-Vessel Corium Retention, prediction of transient heat loads on the vessel wall is necessary, which involves a number of complex physical and chemical phenomena. In this framework, understanding of the interfacial conditions between the melt and the solid are relevant issues, which govern the heat flux distribution on the vessel wall. The LIVE experiment was launched at KIT to investigate the thermalhydraulics of a non-eutectic melt in a hemispherical shaped pool that is volumetrically heated and cooled on its lateral boundaries. The present work proposes an analysis of the experimental data obtained in LIVE L3A in order to describe the phenomenology at the interface for both hydraulic and chemical aspects, during transient as well as in steady state. In particular, a model is developed to describe analytically the melt temperature evolution and the crust thickness variation. Notably it is shown that the temperature at the pool-crust interface is close to the liquidus temperature corresponding to the initial concentration in the liquid pool. The characteristic parameters relative to the solidification rate and the thermal conditions determined in this work constitute the input needed to study more deeply the crust formation and notably to determine if a planar front is stable.
ISSN:0017-9310
1879-2189
DOI:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.11.030