Experimental and Numerical Investigations into Heat Exchange and Stability of Circulation during Liquid Metals’ Boiling in Assemblies of Fast Neutron Reactors in Accident Regimes

Thermohydraulic studies of alkali liquid metal coolants for justification of nuclear power facilities

“…The results of computational studies for a system of parallel FAs (Fig. 6), undertaken based on an upgraded version of the SABENA code (Sorokin et al 2021a) implementing a two-liquid model of a two-phase liquid metal flow in an approximation of equal pressures in a steam or liquid phase, reproduce the variation of temperature, the development of single-phase (bubble, slug) flow patterns, and the liquid metal flow rate fluctuations obtained in experimental studies, and demonstrate antiphase coolant flow rate fluctuations in parallel FAs, the interchannel stability characterized by a major growth in the coolant flow rate fluctuation amplitude in parallel FAs as compared with single FAs, a periodic drop in the FA coolant flow rate practically to zero, and potential FA exposure (departure from nucleate boiling).…”