Experiment investigation on flow characteristics of open natural circulation system

Abstract

Experimental research on flow characteristics of open natural circulation system was performed, to figure out the mechanism of the open natural circulation behaviors. The influence factors, such as the heating power, the inlet subcooled and the level of cooling tank on the flow characteristics of the system were examined. It was shown that within the scope of the experimental conditions, there are five flow types: single-phase stable flow, flash and geyser coexisting unstable flow, flash stable flow, flash unstable flow, and flash and boiling coexisting unstable flow. The geyser flow in flash and geyser coexisting unstable flow is different from classic geysers flow. The flow oscillation period and amplitude of the former are more regular, is a newly discovered flow pattern. By drawing the flow instability boundary diagram and sorting out the flow types, it is found that the two-phase unstable flow is mainly characterized by boiling and flash, which determine the behavior of open natural circulation respectively or jointly. Moreover, compared with full liquid level system, non-full liquid level system is more prone to boiling phenomenon, and the range of heat flux density and undercooling degree corresponding to unstable flow is larger.

Keywords

• Open natural circulation
• Flashing
• Boiling eruption
• Flow characteristics
• Unstable area distribution