Experimental and fundamental investigations of boiling heat transfer at conditions up to the critical point

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This proposal is intended to carry out thermalhydraulics studies related to atomic energy power generation. The research will relate to the working fluid water at high temperature, which is close to its critical point (221.2 bar, 374.15 C). The fundamental knowledge generated from this research would be directly beneficial to Canadian power-generation and potentially useful to chemical, and oil-gas industries. Short-term applications of the research focus on providing support to the nuclear reactor industry for designing of new reactor types and improving the safety of existing reactors in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. The research utilizes mainly Refrigerant-134a, which is one of the environmentally safe refrigerants, as coolant to simulate the high-pressure steam-water flow. The use of refrigerants provides a safer testing environment (lower operating pressure 40.7 bar and temperature 101.11 C), simpler testing requirements, more flexibility, and lower cost than steam-water flow. Research topics cover flow boiling and pressure drop, particularly the impact of various separate effects on thermalhydraulics parameters in simple geometries and bundles. At this point, little related educational programs or suitable research facilities are available in Canada for this type of fundamental knowledge. One of the secondary objectives of the proposed research program is to construct an experimental facility to conduct these analyses, and to undertake a systematic evaluation of analytical methods and models, in support of the Canadian industries (e.g., CANDU reactors, AECL). The results will also enrich the literature, with potential application in many different areas of science and engineering. This proposed program will employ researchers and train graduates, providing them with advanced, hands-on experience in nuclear power research, an area that is extremely vital for the Canadian economy.