Oxygen Transport in Liquid Lead Bismuth Eutectic Filled Cavity by Natural Convection

Authors

Xianfang Tan, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Yitung Chen, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Taide Tan, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Huajun Chen, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

7-17-2006

Publication Title

Fourteenth International Conference on Nuclear Engineering 2006, ICONE 14

Publisher

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

First page number:

13

Last page number:

20

Abstract

This paper numerically analyzes the oxygen transport in an active oxygen controlled lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) system. Corrosion in near wall areas and oxide-layer formations on container surfaces are included. Simulations are carried out on a simplified rectangle container. Different temperature boundary conditions are added to the container to induce pure natural-convection LBE flows. The strength of the flows is measured by the Rayleigh number (Ra). Three laminar cases: (a) heated from the bottom and cooled from the top of the container; (b) heated from the sidewalls and cooled from the top of the container; (c) one sidewall heated and the opposite wall cooled, and one fully turbulent case with one sidewall heated and the opposite sidewall cooled are selected and analyzed in detail. In each case, the characteristic velocity and oxygen diffusion time are estimated, the change of oxygen distribution with time are obtained, and the bulk concentration of oxygen and the efficiency of oxide layer formation on different liquid-solid interfaces are calculated. Based on the analysis, several conclusions are finally obtained.

Keywords

Cavities; Eutectics; Heat – Convection; Natural; Laminar flow; Lead bismuth; Natural convection; Nuclear reactors – Cooling; Oxide coating; Oxygen; Turbulence

Disciplines

Heat Transfer, Combustion | Materials Science and Engineering | Mechanical Engineering | Nuclear Engineering

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

Repository Citation

Tan, X., Chen, Y., Tan, T., Chen, H. (2006). Oxygen Transport in Liquid Lead Bismuth Eutectic Filled Cavity by Natural Convection. Fourteenth International Conference on Nuclear Engineering 2006, ICONE 14 13-20. American Society of Mechanical Engineers.