Mass transfer of corrosion products in high temperature, high pressure water circuits, Part 1 - the CWL-3 mass transfer loop

Abstract

The CWL-3 loop is used to study the mass transfer of corrosion products in water at 270ºC for pressures up to 6.9 MPa. Two parallel Zircaloy-2 test sections are heated directly by a low voltage a.c. electrical current to give a heat flux up to 500 W cm-2 and a heat rating up to 1500 W cm-1. Coolant flow rates can be varied up to 0.4 kg cm-2 s-1 with or without boiling. A tracer technique has been developed to monitor continuously the deposition of corrosion products in the test sections during operation of the loop. Magnetite deposits 2.6 nm thick can be readily detected.