Experimental investigations on thermal stratification in a large pool of water with immersed isolation condenser

Abstract

Advanced nuclear reactors use large pool of water inventory with an immersed heat exchanger to remove decay heat especially in the case of Station Black Out (SBO). The isolation condenser (IC) immersed in Gravity Driven Water Pool (GDWP) of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is an example of such systems. Heat rejected by the IC is absorbed in the pool. As a result, water density decreases and moves towards the free surface of pool causing layers of hot water piling up over colder one giving rise to stratified water inventory. consequently, the pool at the free surface starts boiling before the grace period (7 days). In the present paper, thermal stratification has been modeled in a power to volume scaled experimental setup. The study is focused on investigating the effect of heater orientation on suppression of thermal stratification in the pool for both the cases of with and without shrouds around heat exchanger. © 2020 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). All rights reserved.