Analysis of air-water two phase natural circulation flow by using RELAP5/MOD3

Abstract

Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 1-4 July, 2007.

Air-water two phase natural circulation flow in the T-HERMES (Thermo-Hydraulic Evaluation of Reactor cooling Mechanism by External Self-induced flow)-1D experiment has been verified and evaluated by RELAP5/MOD3 computer code. The RELAP5 results have shown that an increase in the coolant inlet area leads to an increase in the water circulation mass flow rate. However, the water outlet area has no influence on the water circulation mass flow rate. As the coolant outlet moves to a lower position, the water circulation mass flow rate decreases. The water level has no influence on the water circulation mass flow rate.