Experimental measurement of sodium-water reaction in annular vertical channel

Measurements were conducted on a model consisting of a vertical annular channel, a top chamber, a bottom chamber and an injection device. A diagram of the experimental equipment is shown. The reaction was studied of water penetrating in an amount of 0.2 to 0.33 g/s in sodium of a temperature of 320 to 370 degC in the vertical channel. Temperature distribution was established along the insulated and the uninsulated channels, as were pressure in the channel during the sodium-water reaction and the hydrogen volume upon water penetration in sodium. Two zones of temperature changes were found following water penetration, viz., one in the vicinity of the penetration point, the other in the heated part of the channel. The experiments also showed that the vertical sodium channel was passable for hydrogen all the time and that mass transfer on the surface of the channel walls did not result in channel wall disturbance, this not even of the wall surface opposite to the penetration point. (J.P.)