Critical Heat Flux for a Downwards Facing Disk in a Subcooled Pool Boiling Environment

Abstract

<p>An experimental investigation of the physical feasibility of thermal creep failure of the Calandria Vessel under a severe accident load is presented in this thesis. Thermal creep failure is postulated to occur if film boiling is instigated in the Shield Tank Water surrounding the Calandria Vessel. The objective of this experimental study is to measure the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) for a representative geometry in environmental conditions similar to those existing in the CANDU Calandria Vessel and Shield Tank Water.<br />Two geometries of downwards facing surfaces are studied. The first is termed the ‘confined’ study in which bubble motion is demarcated to the heated surface. The second is termed the ‘unconfined’ study where individual bubbles are free to move along the heated surface and vent in any direction.<br />The method used in the confined study is novel and involves the placement of a lip surrounding the heated surface. The level of confinement is adjusted by varying the inclination angle. Data has been obtained for Bond Numbers (Bo) 0, 1.5, 3, 3.6 and 11.8 with corresponding qCHF 596, 495, 295, 223, and 187 kW/m2, respectively. A correlation relating the CHF to level of confinement is stated. The CHF results are in good agreement with Theofanous et. al. (1994), as is the observation that a transition angle is observed in the correlation. The transition angle in this study is found to be ~5.5°. The obtained nucleate boiling curves are compared to Su et. al. (2008) data for similar Bo and excellent agreement is achieved in the medium to high heat flux regions.<br />The unconfined study consists of a downward facing plate in a pool of subcooled water. The obtained nucleate boiling curve is compared with the Stephan-Andelsalam correlation and agreement is not observed. There were visibly different trends in the convective heat transfer coefficient with a mean difference of 31%. The experimental data is compared to data obtained by Nishikawa et. al. (1984) and is found to be in acceptable agreement. The power requirement to instigate film boiling was not met, meaning that the CHF is greater than 1 MW/m2. Visual observations are made and an argument is based on the premise that the phenomenon of dryout for a downwards facing surface is similar to that of an upwards facing surface. The theory and current acceptance of CHF for an upwards facing surface is discussed—in particular Zuber’s “Hydrodynamic Limit” of 1.1 MW/m2, Dhir (1992) and recent experimental evidence from Theofanous et. al. (2002). These three studies were found to be in agreement with results presented here.<br />The experimental evidence presented herein supports the statement that thermal creep failure of the Calandria Vessel is physically unreasonable under analyzed severe accident loads.</p>