Saturated Boiling Heat Transfer of Freon-113 in Hemispherical Narrow Space and Implications for Degraded Core Coolability in Reactor Vessel Lower Plenum

Saturated boiling heat transfer experiment in a hemispherical narrow space is conducted using Freon-113 to investigate an additional heat removal capability through a hypothetical gap between lower head and degraded core. The narrow space of 1mm consists of a 124mm diameter heated stainless steel hemisphere and a glass outer vessel. Within the hemispherical narrow space large coalesced bubbles are produced and these bubbles rise in random direction, causing liquid flow in from the opposite side to fill the region. Such flow in random direction makes the flow field in the narrow space very chaotic and thus enhance heat transfer. The heat transfer coefficient is higher at lower angle and at higher heat flux. The present study shows that the liquid from upper region can effectively penetrate into the gap and augment the heat removal capability through tile gap.