During a loss of coolant accident in a pressurised water reactor, emergency core cooling water is introduced via the downcomer annulus. The water may have to penetrate or overcome steam formed in the vessel due to the depressurisation. A typical counter-current flow situation can be created and dependent on the relative flow rates water may be prevented from reaching the reactor core with serious consequences. This,thesis considers the events leading up to this occurrence in a vertical, 54.75 mm diameter, 1 m long, stainless steel tube, to represent and provide a basic understanding of the situation occurring during a loss of coolant accident. Results are presented for air-water and steam-water flows with emphasis on the experimental and theoretical studies of the steam-water flow situation where direct contact heat transfer occurs. The air-water flooding data are shown to be well represented by a Wallis type flooding correlation. The steam-water flooding data are found to lie above the corresponding air-water data with their characteristic dependent on the water inlet subcooling. The percentage of the air/steam flow extracted with the water flow at the bottom porous sinter was found to exert a negative effect on the flooding phenomena. A theoretical model was developed to predict the liquid film thickness along the tube, and agreement with the experimental results demonstrated. A second theoretical model was developed to evaluate the temperature across the liquid film and along the test tube and from this model, the effective turbulent diffusivity was evaluated, leading to an estimate of the turbulent viscosity of the film under conditions in which substantial condensation took place. A semi-empirical model based on a linear stability analysis of a uniform liquid film and a counter-current flow of steam, was developed and modified for accelerating film flows. This model is shown to be capable of dealing with the steam-water flooding situation since reasonable agreement with the air-water flooding data is obtained. A modified Wallis type flooding correlation based on the experimental data, and accounting for non-equilibrium effect on flooding, is presented and discussed. A visualisation technique was developed and used to determine the flooding location in the section.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:382278 |
| Date | January 1988 |
| Creators | Ahmed Husham Mahmood, H. M. |
| Publisher | University of Strathclyde |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21482 |
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