Volume 68, Issue 3

There is evidence in literature that the insertion of flow obstacles in the coolant flow of a boiler flowing in an annular regime postpones the film dryout emergence on the heated surfaces. Specifically, the obstacle is believed to force the deposition of droplets to the wall, hence to increase the film flow rate, and therefore to delay dryout. The two objectives of the present research are (i) to confirm the increase in the film flow rate due to the obstacle, by (ii) building an appropriate flow-loop equipped with suited techniques for film thickness and film velocity measurements. A solid cylinder is inserted in the center of a vertical water-air annular tube flow. Variations in liquid film characteristics, e. g. film thickness and interfacial parameters (disturbance waves velocity and frequency), are measured through a local conductance probes technique. This work shows that the presence of an obstacle in an annular flow leads to an increase in the film thickness, specifically the substrate thickness, and does not affect the interfacial behavior of the film. An increase in the droplet deposition constant is observed and agrees reasonably well with predictions from the Windecker et al. (1999) correlation. The flow-loop and the measurements techniques are suited for extensive droplet deposition measurements .

The present paper describes the concept of a fast scanning Xray tomograph, the hardware development, and measurement results of gas-liquid two-phase flow in a vertical pipe. The device uses 18 pulsed X-ray sources activated in a successive order. In this way, a complete set of 18 independent projections of the object is obtained within 38 ms, i. e. the measuring rate is about 250 frames per second. Finally, to evaluate the measurement capability of the fast X-ray CT, a wire-mesh sensor was installed in the flow loop and both systems were operated for the same two-phase flow simultaneously. Comparison of the time series of the cross section averaged void fraction from both systems showed sufficient agreement for slug flow at large void fractions, while the fast CT underestimated the void fraction of bubbly flow especially in low void fraction range. For the wire-mesh sensor, coerced deformation of slug bubble interface was found. Further hardware improvement is in progress to achieve better resolution with the fast X-ray CT scanner .

Fast acting valves are often applied for quick safety shut-down of pipelines for liquids and gases in the chemical and petrochemical industry as well as in power plants and state water supplies. The fast deceleration of the liquid leads to water hammer upstream the valve and to cavitational hammer downstream the fast closing valve. The valve characteristics given by manufacturers are usually measured at steady state flow conditions of the liquid. In comparison, the dynamic characteristics depend on the initial liquid velocity, valve closing velocity, the absolute pipe pressure and the pipe geometry. Fraunhofer UMSICHT conducts various test series examining valve dynamic characteristics in order of the dynamic analysis of pressure surges in fast closing processes. Therefore a test rig is used which consists of two pipelines of DN 50 and DN 100 with an approximate length of 230 m each. In this paper the results of performed pressure surge experiments with fast closing and opening valves will be compared to calculations of commercial software programs such as MONA, FLOWMASTER 2. Thus the calculation software for water supply, power plants, oil and gas and chemical industry can be permanently improved .

Most of the level monitoring systems for pressure vessels containing saturated steam-water mixture use the hydrostatic method. Differential pressure transducers are connected by pulse tubes with nozzles at different height of the pressure vessel. A disadvantage of this method is given by measuring errors cause by evaporation and/or degassing processes in vertical parts of these pulse lines. The error is caused by the decrease of the fluid density in the reference pipe, when a two-phase mixture appears. The present work aimed at the test of a novel differential pressure measuring system that eliminates the influence of density changes in the pulse lines. It is based on two differential pressure transducers, placed accurately at the elevation of the connecting nozzles. They are connected with the pressure vessel only by horizontal pipes. The vertical distance is bridged by a standpipe, the fluid of which is completely separated from the fluid in the vessel. Degassing respectively evaporation effects can therefore be completely excluded in the reference column of the new system. The method was tested at the pressurizer test facility of the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/ Görlitz, IPM on three types of transients including a rapid pressure decrease similar to a loss-of-coolant transient. Traditional differential pressure systems as well as local void probes were used for comparison. The method has proven its advantages compared to the traditional hydrostatic level measurement method .

A novel device for fast visualisation of gas-liquid two-phase flows was developed and tested during loss-off-coolant accident simulations at the thermal hydraulic test facility PSBVVER, a 1 : 300 integral model of the VVER-1000. The device is an ultrasonic mesh sensor. It consists of a metallic frame where transmitter and receiver wave-guides are fixed, that form two grids inside the measurement cross section. Ultrasonic pulses are transmitted into the fluid by the 8 wave-guides of the first plane. A second plane of another 8 wave-guides, that cross the ones of the first plane under an angle of 90 deg, serves as receives. The measurement is based on the acoustic conductivity of the two-phase mixture at the locations where the wave-guides cross. The sampling frequency is 250 frames per second. This allows both void fraction measurements and a fast flow visualisation. The sensor is applicable to high pressures and temperatures. All parts and surfaces that are in contact with the fluid are manufactured from stainless steel. During the tests at PSB-VVER the flow pattern in the hot leg of the primary circuit model was visualised for the first time .

Condensation in presence of non-condensable gas is safety relevant in case of loss-of-coolant accidents in pressurised water reactors. Non-condensable gas reduces the heat and mass transfer in the vapour phase, especially with low steam velocities. Insufficient heated emergency core cooling water can cause thermal shocks at the reactor pressure vessel for example. Within the scope of a research project supported by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft (BMWI) experiments have been performed to study the effect of non condensable gases on direct contact condensation at horizontal stratified steam/water flow. The paper presents the laser-optical measurement technique linear Raman spectroscopy for determination of concentration profiles in the vapour phase and temperature profiles in the liquid phase with high local resolution. The film theory, described in this paper, allows the approximation of these measured concentration profiles and therefore the calculation of local heat and mass transfer. If homogenous condensation occurs, the fog density in the vapour phase can also be estimated by means of Raman spectroscopy. Steady state and transient experiments are presented.

The present paper deals with advanced conductivity probes for local void measurements, which were equipped with a microthermocouple, which is integrated into the probe at the place of the electrode wire. These probes were used for rapid transient condensation tests in a heat exchanger pipe immersed into a cooling water tank. The experiments serve as data sources for the validation of thermal-hydraulic system codes concerning the modelling of the condensation, particularly with respect to the behaviour and effect of non-condensable gases. The present tests were carried out at the pressurizer test facility DHVA of the University for Applied Sciences in Zittau/Görlitz, IPM serving as steam source. The slightly downwards inclined condensation tube was connected to the head of the pressure vessel and supplied with steam in this way. The application of a new type of two-phase instrumentation has revealed details about the transient condensation process. Since tests were performed with and without the presence of a non-condensable gas (air), the effect of the gas could be studied. The merits of the probes lie in the ability to distinguish between steam and gas. Without the synchronous temperature and void measurement performed by the probes it would have not been possible to clarify the physical background of the temperature jumps found during the experiments with the non-condensable gas .