Liquid-Liquid Secondary Fragmentation with Solidification

Abstract

[EN] In the event of a hypothetical core disruptive accident in nuclear power plants, the molten core may flow out the reactor vessel and interact with the cold water. The evolution of the accident is strongly affected by the fragmentation of the jet of molten metallic fuel due to its interaction with the water (i.e. this situation is known as fuel coolant interaction, FCI). In order to evaluate and predict the various consequences of a FCI, many researches are conducted with either corium or high melting temperature molten metal, where premixing stage evolves with an important production of steam. This steam production that is unavoidable because the high temperature of corium leads to difficulties for using optical diagnostics. Hence, in our case, we use a eutectic alloy (Field’s metal) with a low melting point (62°C) in order to be able to visualize correctly the droplet fragmentation processes. The present work focuses on the fragmentation of a single Field’s metal liquid droplet with mass equals to 0.27g (±0.01g). The liquid droplet interacts with a water pool whose temperature range between 20°C to 60°C. According to its Weber number, it fragments in different ways. For each experiment, a single droplet has been visualized using a high-speed camera (at 8000 fps). All measurements (drop size, velocity, impact parameter and geometrical properties of the drops after the penetration) into the pool are evaluated using an open source image processing. Solidified fragments can then be sieved and the size PDF determined. Focus of the present work is put on the evolution of the Sauter Mean Diameter with increasing Weber number and varying bath pool temperature. It is shown that using a simple crust model during solidification and defining an effective Weber number which include the crust elasticity all the curves collapse on the same master curve for all the water bath temperature considered.