Visualization on the behavior of inert gas jets impinging on a single glass tube submerged in liquid sodium

Abstract

In order to accurately model sodium-water reaction jets in steam generators of fast breeder reactors, knowledge of size distributions or mean diameters of liquid sodium droplets entrained into the reaction jets is prerequisite. In the present study, argon-gas jet behaviors, without chemical reaction, injected into liquid sodium were successfully visualized using an endoscope and a glass tube, and the size distributions and mean diameters of liquid sodium droplets entrained into the gas jet were also obtained in the bubbling regime. Most of the liquid sodium droplets were observed to be intermittently produced in the vicinity of a gas nozzle in the present study. The droplet size distributions of entrained sodium droplets were found to agree well with the Nukiyama-Tanasawa distribution function when the arithmetic mean diameter was used. The Sauter mean diameters obtained in the present study were also found to be well correlated with an empirical equation proposed by Epstein et al. The present study shows that the existing knowledge, which is based on the results of water experiments, is suitable in terms of accuracy in practice.

A numerical model for the CO2–sodium chemical interactions in Sodium Fast nuclear Reactors

“…At the leakage outlet, the gas leaks at sonic conditions and suddenly increases its velocity due to the underexpansion: the high slip velocity between the phases causes a continuous breakup of the gas-liquid interface, which leads to the entrainment of small liquid droplet inside the gas phase. Liquid entrainment inside underexpanded gas-intoliquid jets have been recently experimentally investigated and confirmed by Epstein et al (2005) and Kudoh et al (2013). Starting from a certain point downstream the leakage outlet, the gas core breaks up into small gas bubbles: this behavior have been experimentally observed by Vivaldi et al (2013).…”

Influence of straight nozzle geometry on the supersonic under-expanded gas jets

“…Due to the presence of channel walls in the downstream section, the study therefore focuses on an impinging jet. Its structure mainly de pends on the NPR, the target inclination and the shape of the target (Kudoh et al, 2013;Dauptain et al, 2010;Dauptain et al, 2012). It is characterized by three different regimes : free jet, impingement and wall jet (see Fig.…”

Applicability of a mechanistic numerical method for sodium-water reaction phenomena in steam generators of sodium-cooled fast reactors

“…2). Kudo et al (2013) carried out the experiment on a submerged gaseous jet in liquid sodium. They visualized the liquid droplets impinging on an adjacent glass tube.…”