Experimental investigation of effect of spacer on two phase turbulent mixing rate in subchannels of pressure tube type BWR

摘要

Turbulent mixing rate between adjacent subchannels in a two-phase flow has been known to be strongly dependent on the flow pattern. The most important aspect of turbulent motion is that the velocity and pressure at a fixed point do not remain constant with time even in steady state but go through very irregular high frequency fluctuations. These fluctuations influence the diffusion of scalar and vector quantities. The Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is a vertical pressure tube type, heavy water moderated and boiling light water cooled natural circulation based reactor. The fuel bundle of AHWR contains 54 fuel rods set in three concentric rings of 12, 18 and 24 fuel rods. This fuel bundle is divided into number of imaginary interacting flow channel called subchannels. Alteration from single phase to two phase flow situation occurs in reactor rod bundle with raise in power. The two phase flow regimes like bubbly, slug-churn, and annular flow are generally encountered in reactor rod bundle. Prediction of thermal margin of the reactor has necessitated the investigation of turbulent mixing rate of coolant between these subchannels under these flow regimes. Thus, it is fundamental to estimate the effect of spacer grids on turbulent mixing between subchannels of AHWR rod bundle.