Acoustic Measurements of the Boiling Stability Tests on THORS Sodium Loop

Acoustic data of boiling stability tests on the THORS (hermal-Hydraulic Out-of-Reactor Safety) facility were obtained using three sodium-immersible high temperature microphones. The data was analyzed in both the time and frequency domains and provides the following information: (1) the acoustic signal due to sodium boiling was clearly observed; (2) the signal level and the repetition rate of boiling pulses are directly proportional to the applied heat flux; (3) a typical boiling pulse consists of a high frequency signal due mainly to the bubble collapses and a low frequency void oscillation; (4) the frequency spectra of the boiling and background pulses can be mostly assigned to various acoustic resonance frequencies of the THORS loop. The characterization of these data is pertinent to the design of sodium boiling detection systems.