2D modelling of a UF6 container in a fire

We present some results on 2D thermal modelisation of the behaviour of UF6 in a fire. A cylindrical container is engulfed by a high temperature space where the heat transfer is expected to occur by radiation only. During the first minutes, we assume that the thermal resistance is between the external wall and the UF6 solid, the heat transfer can be split up into three kinds: 1) conduction to solid UF6 through a contact surface. 2) radiative transfer. 3) gas layer with a small heat conductance. This thermal resistance is initially determined by the UF6 filling type, shape and also is time dependant by thermal dilatation effects. On the onset of liquifying the heat transfer increases because of the larger liquid exchange. The liquid and boiling heat flow is then calculated by a model on the basis of classical correlations in vertical cavities. Numerical evaluations have been performed with a finite element model using: ANSYS. With a realistic hypothesis, the effect of the following parameters is estimated: thermal conductivity of UF6 solid, contact surface fraction, UF6 emissivity, gas gap thickness, liquid UF6 wall exchange, solid liquid transition criteria, non condensation factor k. (J.P.N.)