Workshop paper: Design and the First Experimental Data from Sesame-stand for Lead Solidification Experiments

The experimental facility intended for studies of lead natural convection and solidification process in a pool-type geometry has been designed, assembled and commissioned at Research Centre Rez (CVR) within the H2020 SESAME project. The main purpose of the facility is generation of experimental data for validation of computational tools that are being developed for design and safety studies of the lead-cooled Generation IV reactors. The main component of the experimental facility is a cylindrical vessel filled with lead and equipped with electric heaters of power up to 8 kW. An obstacle is placed inside the vessel to ensure relevant natural convection. The heat produced by the heaters is removed through the external surface of the experimental vessel using forced air convection. Apart from detailed measurement of temperature field in the vessel, the facility can also provide data on shape of the frozen structure remained in the experimental vessel by 3D scanning after an experimental run and draining of the liquid fraction. In this paper, the facility will be described in details in order to provide sufficient input needed for preparation of computational models. Lessons learned from the development and commissioning phase of the facility as well as experience with the operation will be also mentioned. In addition, the first experimental data will be presented and compared with data obtained from CFD models developed in parallel at RC Rez using code ANSYS Fluent and at CRS4 using STAR-CCM+. Detected discrepancy between the computational and experimental data and also between the codes will be discussed and resulting recommendations for possible improvements of both the experimental facility and computational models will be indicated.

@InProceedings{MFMBMP19,
  author       = {Melichar, T. and Frybort, O. and Matous, P. and Belka, M. and Moreau, V. and Profir, M.},
  title        = {Workshop paper: Design and the First Experimental Data from Sesame-stand for Lead Solidification Experiments},
  booktitle    = {SESAME International Workshop Petten, The Netherlands, 19-21 March 2019},
  year         = {2019},
  keywords     = {SESAME, CFD, pool modelling, lead, LBE, HLM, freezing, solidification, CVR},
  url          = {https://publications.crs4.it/pubdocs/2019/MFMBMP19},
}