Natural Circulation Characteristics of a Symmetric Loop under Inclined Conditions

In: Science and technology of nuclear installations, Band 2014, S. 1-8

Abstract

Natural circulation is an important process for primary loops of some marine integrated reactors. The reactor works under inclined conditions when severe accidents happen to the ship. In this paper, to investigate the characteristics of natural circulation, experiments were conducted in a symmetric loop under the inclined angle of 0~45°. A CFD model was also set up to predict the behaviors of the loop beyond the experimental scope. Total circulation flow rate decreases with the increase of inclined angle. Meanwhile one circulation is depressed while the other is enhanced, and accordingly the disparity between the branch circulations arises and increases with the increase of inclined angle. Circulation only takes place in one branch circuit at large inclined angle. Also based on the CFD model, the influences of flow resistance distribution and loop configuration on natural circulation are predicted. The numerical results show that to design the loop with the configuration of big altitude difference and small width, it is favorable to reduce the influence of inclination; however too small loop width will cause severe reduction of circulation ability at large angle inclination.