Measurement of the Flow Pattern of the Moderator Circulation and Axial Heat Flux Profile of an Electric Heater for MCT at KAERI

This research program included the construction of the Moderator Circulation Test (MCT) facility, production of the validation data for self-reliant CFD tools, and development of optical measurement system using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) techniques. So far non-heating isothermal flow pattern tests and numerous heating flow pattern tests up to maximum power of 167 kW under various flow rate and inlet temperature conditions have been carried out. The procedure how the electric heater for this test was designed and fabricated is described, and the preliminary assessment of the temperature difference across the S.S. pipe which serves as the heater outer sheath is presented, and the procedures how the holes for installing the thermocouple(TC)s are designed and installed and TC installation are described. The current research program included the construction of the MCT facility, production of the validation data for self-reliant CFD tools, and development of optical measurement system using PIV and LIF techniques. So far non-heating isothermal flow pattern tests and numerous heating flow pattern tests up to maximum power of 167 kW under various flow rate and inlet temperature conditions have been carried out. Also CFD models for analyzing the moderator temperature and flow fields are prepared. The future work will be use of these CFD models to simulate the test results obtained so far for various operating conditions, and evaluate and assess the modelling capability of these CFD models for the licensing application.