Abstract
The Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) is the leading candidate for the Next Generation Nuclear Power (NGNP) Project in the U.S. Various scaled heated and unheated gas and water flow facilities were investigated for modeling VHTR upper and lower plenum flows during the decay heat portion of a pressurized conduction-cooldown scenario and for modeling thermal mixing and stratification ("thermal striping") in the lower plenum during normal operation. It was concluded, based on phenomena scaling and instrumentation and other practical considerations, that a heated water flow scale model facility is preferable to a heated gas flow facility and to unheated facilities which use fluids with ranges of density to simulate the buoyancy effect of heating. For a heated water flow lower plenum model, both the Richardson numbers and Reynolds numbers may be approximately matched for conduction-cooldown natural circulation conditions. Thermal mixing during normal operation may be simulated but at lower, but still fully turbulent, Reynolds numbers than in the prototype. Natural circulation flows in the upper plenum may also be simulated in a separate heated water flow facility that uses the same plumbing as the lower plenum model. However, scaling distortions will occur due primarily to the necessity of using a reduced number of channels connected to the upper plenum than in the prototype in an otherwise geometrically scaled model. Experiments conducted in either or both facilities will meet the objectives of providing benchmark data for the validation of codes proposed for NGNP designs and safety studies, as well as providing a better understanding of the complex flow phenomena in the plenums.
