ABSTRACT
Experiments were carried out to evaluate the thermal behavior of nuclear spent fuel
stored in the auxiliary pool of Egypt Test Research Reactor No.2 (ETRR-2) during
natural convection cooling condition (pump failure). An experimental test rig was
designed and constructed to simulate this case. The test rig was equipped with two
vertical and parallel electrically heated aluminum plates with a uniform heat flux. The
test rig was designed to investigate the effect of the extension ratio (L* = Lt/Lh), the
aspect ratio (B* = W/b) and the inlet coolant temperature (Ti) on the natural convection
cooling behavior. Four different extension ratios (1.44, 1.94, 2.44 and 2.94) and four
different channel aspect ratios of 2, 2.67, 4 and 8 were studied. The inlet coolant
temperature was varied from 30 up to 45 oC. The present experiments were conducted
within a range of modified Rayleigh number Ra* from 1.2 x105 to 2.4 x108. The results
showed that the heat transfer coefficient increases with the increase in either the
extension ratio or the inlet coolant temperature, while it decreases with the increase in
the aspect ratio. New correlation was obtained for the average Nusselt number as a
function of the channel extension ratio L*, the channel aspect ratio B* and the modified
Rayleigh number Ra*. |
