Out-of-pile burnout experiments in a full-scale simulation of an irradiation rig in a HIFAR hollow fuel element facility
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Date
1986-06
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Publisher
Australian Atomic Energy Commission
Abstract
Flow measurement and burnout experiments were performed in an out-of-pile test rig which simulates the conditions of UO sub 2 irradiation rig in a hollow fuel element facility of the HIFAR reactor. One per cent of the coolant flow in the fuel element passed through the irradiation rig. A burnout heat flux of 90 W cm -2 was observed at the surface of an electrically-heated dummy irradiation can. When the coolant flow rate in the irradiation rig was increased by a factor of 2.5 the burnout heat flux rose by 30 per cent to 117 W cm - 2. A simple modification to the supporting frame for the cans improved the burnout heat flux by 3 per cent at 1 per cent of the coolant flow but enhanced it by 17 per cent at 2.5 per cent of the coolant flow. Of ten burnout events observed eight were located upstream of the end of the heated length of the can. The burnout results form a self-consistent credible set of data and provide a rational basis for the establishment of maximum permissible operating heat fluxes in irradiation rigs of the type simulated. Recommendations are made for the practical application of the results.
Description
Keywords
Burnout, Coolants, Critical heat flux, HIFAR Reactor, Uranium oxides
Citation
Chapman, A. G., & Hargreaves, N. D. (1986). Out-of-pile burnout experiments in a full-scale simulation of an irradiation rig in a HIFAR hollow fuel element facility. (AAEC/E632). Lucas Heights, NSW: Australian Atomic Energy Commission, Research Establishment.