• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.4
• /
• pp.977-986
• /
• 2019

In the thermal-hydraulic system codes, such as MARS and RELAP5/MOD3, the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) model has been adopted as a subcooled boiling model. It, however, has been shown that the SRL model cannot take into account appropriately the effects of inlet liquid velocity and hydraulic diameter on axial void fraction development. To overcome the problems, Ha et al. (2018) proposed a modified SRL model, which is applicable to low-pressure and low-Pe conditions (P < 9.83 bar and $Pe{\leq}70,000$) only. In this work, the authors extended the modified SRL model by proposing a new net vapor generation (NVG) model and a wall evaporation model so that the new subcooled boiling model can cover a wide range of thermal-hydraulic conditions with pressures ranging from 1.1 to 69 bar, heat fluxes of $97-1186kW/m^2$, Pe of 3600 to 329,000, and hydraulic diameters of 5-25.5 mm. The new model was implemented in the MARS code and has been assessed using various subcooled boiling experimental data. The results of the new model showed better agreements with measured void fraction data, especially at low-pressure conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.548-560
• /
• 1999

An experimental investigation has been peformed to examine the effects of various geometrical parameters and an initial operating condition on the air-water countercurrent How limitation (CCFL) in a simulated PWR hot leg. A total of 118 experimental data for the onset of CCFL and zero liquid penetration were obtained for various combinations of test parameters. It was observe that the CCFL can be classified into three different categories: (the onset of CCFL, (the partial liquid delivery, and (r) the zero liquid penetration. The observed mechanisms of the onset of CCFL were different depending on the inlet water flow rate. The parametric effects of pipe diameter, horizontal pipe length, horizontal pipe length-to-diameter (L/D) ratio, and initial water level in the horizontal pipe of the test section on the onset of air-water CCFL were also examined. An empirical correlation for the onset of CCFL in a horizontal pipe connected to an inclined riser was developed in terms of Wallis flooding parameters for the low inlet water flow rate region. Comparisons of the present empirical correlation with the air-water CCFL data of large pipe diameters show that the present correlation agrees more closely with the experimental data than the existing CCFL correlations.