Heater rod temperature change at boiling transition under flow oscillation

The experiments were performed to investigate the boiling transition phenomenon under flow oscillation (OSBT) during thermal hydraulic instability. It was found, from the experimental results, that the thermal hydraulic instability did not immediately lead to the boiling transition (BT) and, even when the BT occurred due to a power increase, the change in the heater rod temperature was periodically up and down with a saw-toothed shape and no excursion occurred. To investigate the temperature change characteristics, an analysis was also performed using the transient thermal hydraulics code. The analytical results showed that the shape of the heater rod temperature change was well simulated by presuming a repeat of alternate BT and rewetting. Based on these results, further analysis has been performed with the lumped parameter model to investigate the temperature profile characteristics as well as the effects of the post-BT heat transfer coefficient and the flow oscillation period on the maximum temperature. (author)