Metallic insulation transport and strainer clogging tests

Experiments to probe the transport and clogging properties of metallic (metal reflective) insulation have been carried out in order to provide data for evaluation of their influence on the emergency core cooling and containment spray systems of the Finnish boiling water reactors in the event of a design basis accident. The specific metallic insulation tested was DARMET, provided by Darchem Engineering Ltd. The inner foils of Darmet are dimped. Available literature on the metallic insulation performance under design basis accident conditions has been reviewed. On the basis of the review a parametric approach has been chosen for the transport and clogging experiments. This approach involves testing a wide size range of various shapes of foil pieces. Five sets of experiments have been carried out. The first three sets investigate transport properties of the foil pieces, starting from sedimentation in stagnant waste pool and proceeding to transport in horizontal and vertically circulating flows. The clogging experiments have been addressed the differential pressures obtained due to accumulation of both pure and metallic and a mixture of metallic and fibrous (mineral wool) depris. (4 refs., 24 figs., 2 tabs.)