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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
Toshiya Takaki, Michio Murase, Kosuke Hayashi, Akio Tomiyama
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 3 | March 2022 | Pages 503-519
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1927616
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The objective of this study was to reduce the uncertainties of correlations for flow characteristics in vertical pipes under flooding at the top end. The void fraction α, pressure gradient dP/dz, and countercurrent flow limitation (CCFL) were previously measured with diameter D = 40 mm and working fluid of air and water. The wall friction and interfacial friction factors (fw and fi) were obtained based on the annular flow model, and CCFL and fw were evaluated in detail. Hence, attention was turned to detailed evaluations of α and fi. Liquid film thickness δ and interfacial friction factor fi for smooth film (SF) due to flooding at the top end were obtained using the previously derived fw correlation and existing dP/dz data with D = 20 to 50.8 mm and pressure P = 0.1 to 4.1 MPa, and empirical correlations for δ and fi were derived. The δ term was well expressed by a function of the liquid Reynolds number ReL, and the uncertainty of the δ correlation was ±0.0062 for α = 0.87 to 0.98. fi was expressed by a function of δ/L (where L is the Laplace length) or the Kutateladze parameter KG*, the dimensionless diameter D* (=D/L), and the density ratio of the gas and liquid phases ρG/ρL. The applicability of the derived correlations to conditions of D = 300 mm and P = 7 MPa was evaluated, and the fi correlation was modified based on fi values computed with the δ correlation. The drift-flux parameters for SF were also considered.