Counter-current flow limitation in a model of the hot leg of a PWR—Comparison between air/water and steam/water experiments

In order to investigate the two-phase flow behaviour in a complex reactor-typical geometry and to supply suitable data for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code validation, a model of the hot leg of a pressurised water reactor was built at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR). The hot leg model is devoted to optical measurement techniques, therefore, a flat test section design was chosen and equipped with large windows. In order to enable the operation at high pressures, the test section is installed in the pressure chamber of the TOPFLOW (Transient twO Phase FLOW) test facility of HZDR, which is used to perform the experiments under pressure equilibrium with the inside atmosphere. Counter-current flow limitation (CCFL) experiments were performed, simulating the reflux-condenser cooling mode appearing in small break loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA) scenarios. The fluids used were air and water at room temperature and pressures of up to 3.0 bar, as well as steam and water at pressures of up to 50 bar and the corresponding saturation temperature of 264 °C. One selected 50 bar experiment is presented in detail: the observed behaviour is analysed and illustrated by typical high-speed camera images of the flow. rmore, the flooding characteristics obtained from the different experimental runs are presented in terms of the Wallis parameter and Kutateladze number, which are commonly used in the literature. However, a discrepancy was first observed between the air/water and steam/water series. Further investigations show that the steam was probably wet due to heat losses and liquid entrainment from the heater circuit. Consequently, a correction of the steam measurements was required. The amount of parasitic water was evaluated indirectly over the shift of the zero liquid penetration noticed in the CCFL diagram. Finally, the experimental results confirm that the Wallis similarity is appropriate to scale flooding in the hot leg of a pressurised water reactor over a wide range of pressure and temperature conditions.