Basic Thermal-Hydraulics Experiments for Nuclear Engineering Students

Teaching Assistantship Report

Syeilendra Pramuditya
Department of Nuclear Engineering Tokyo Institute of Technology September 25, 2012

Introduction
This educational program is intended for new comers in nuclear engineering department
Introduce thermal-hydraulic experimental research Introduce basic experimental techniques Introduce the methods of data acquisition, extraction, and processing

Experimental activities
Spot welding Silver brazing Cavitation Single-phase heat transfer Two-phase boiling regimes

Spot Welding
Spot welding is one of the most basic experimental techniques. The purpose is to attach thermocouple onto heater pin surface so that temperature measurement can be performed.
SUS304 Heater pin Safety goggles
V /

Chromel (10 W.s.) 1mm Alumel (15 W.s.)

Electric spark

Thermocouples

Student activity

Spot welder

Silver Brazing
Silver brazing is part of heater pin construction technique. The purpose is to connect/combine SUS304 pin and copper electrodes.

As a TA:
Make sure that the equipments, tools, and materials are all ready Make the students understand about the purpose of the activity Teach students about best practices related to the safety of the activity
SUS304, 4.57mm, 0.28mm, 420mm

Helmet with face protector

Air fan

Leather gloves

Appropriate oxygen pressure (0.05 MPa) Fire-proof sheet

Some safety aspects

Cavitation
Cavitation is one of the key issues in the LMFR development & design since it can cause component damages. And therefore cavitation must be avoided in reactor operation. Occurrence of cavitation can be identified using the concept of cavitation coefficient Teach the technique to get cavitation coefficient experimentally.
K =
27.2 6.5 10 20 60 30 21 21

Cavitation test section

(V12 V02 ) 2

P0 P

P0 P

2 V1 2
Mass flow rate calibration curve
1200 1000 y = 1040. - 6. 9x 1218 9783 R 2 = 0.

Pressure calibration curve

0.18 0.16 0.14

(Mpa-a)

()2 (L/ 2 min)2

0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04

MPa absolute

800 600 400 200

y = 0.0036x + 0.0998 2 R = 0.9992

0.02 0 0 2 4 6 8 mV 10 12 14 16 18

(L/m i n)

0 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% pressure di fference %

mV

Single-Phase Heat Transfer

The study of heat transfer is an important part in nuclear engineering research, since the transport of energy from fuel pin to the coolant is governed by heat transfer mechanism. The purpose of the activity is to teach students of obtaining Nusselt number experimentally.

(Tw

Tb

D=13.0mm (O.D.15mm)
L=400mm

d=4.57mm (t 0.28mm)
L1

V
C 0-10V D

(Tin

Nu hDe / k q h= Tw Tb

Test section schematic

Pressure gauge

Safety valve

P P

Heater pin

Thermocouples Assembling the test section

Water loop schematic

Double Monitoring Stations

Double monitoring stations have been arranged Single-phase heat transfer and cavitation experiments could be performed simultaneously Students could have more time to perform the experiments and data acquisitions smoothly MS1 Large desk
Water loop
Observation monitor Control panel

MS2
Projector

Door

First monitoring station

Second monitoring station

Two-Phase Boiling Flow Regimes

Two-phase boiling flow is an important aspect in nuclear reactor operation. The phenomenon occurs in steam generator and BWR core. Teach the students about experimental observation of various two-phase boiling regimes.
Operation of high speed video camera
(Steam flow) (Mist flow) (Annular mist flow)

(Churn flow, Froth flow) (Slug flow) BWR (Bubbly flow) PWR (Surface boiling flow) (Liquid flow)

Test section

Protective transparent sheet

Thermocouples

High speed camera

Concluding Remarks
A number of improvements have been made to this educational program (the use of handy talky, megaphone, double monitoring stations, replacement of orifice, signal noise reduction, improved spot welding technique, etc) Students understood the importance of safety, best practices, and standard procedures when doing experimental works Good results could be obtained according to the students reports As a TA: help the students to understand each of the experiment, good preparation, emphasize the importance of safety, support them during the activity (smooth & effective experiment) I myself gained a lot of knowledge, since my own work is not directly related to experiments
Newly constructed apparatus for condensation experiment was described to new students

Thank you very much for your attention!