Experimental study on critical heat flux under rolling condition

Abstract

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.

This paper presents defining characteristics of the critical heat flux (CHF) for the boiling of R-134a in vertical tube operation under rolling motion in marine reactor. It is important to predict CHF of marine reactor having the rolling motion in order to increase the safety of the reactor. MArine Reactor Moving Simulator (MARMS) tests are conducted to measure the critical heat flux using R-134a flowing upward in a uniformly heated vertical tube under rolling motion. MARMS was rotated by motor and mechanical power transmission gear. The CHF tests were performed in a 9.5 mm I.D. test section with heated length of 1m. Mass fluxs range from 285 to 1300 kg/m2s, inlet subcoolings from 3 to 38oC and outlet pressures from 1.3 to 2.4 bar. Amplitudes of rolling range from 15 to 45 degrees and periods from 6 to 12 sec. To convert the test conditions of CHF test using R-134a in water, Katto's fluid-to- fluid modeling was used in present investigation. A CHF correlation is presented which accounts for the effects of pressure, mass flux, inlet subcooling and rolling angle over all conditions tested. Unlike existing transient CHF experiments, CHF ratio of certain mass flux and pressure are different in rolling motion. For the mass fluxes below 500 kg/m2s at 13, 16 (region of relative low mass flux), CHF ratio was decreased but was increased above that mass flux (region of relative high mass flux) bar. Moreover, CHF tend to enhance in entire mass flux at 24 bar.