Characterization of LBE Non-isothermal Natural Circulation by Experiments with HELIOS Test Loop and Numerical Analyses

We present results of experiments with lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) non-isothermal natural circulation in a full-height scale test loop, HELIOS, and numerical modeling results performed by a system thermal-hydraulics code. The experimental studies were conducted under steady state as a function of core power conditions from 9.8kW to 33.6kW. Local surface heaters on the main loop were activated and finely tuned by trial-and-error approach to make adiabatic wall boundary conditions. Activities on numerical modeling were carried out by a thermal-hydraulic system code MARS-LBE using the well-defined experimental data. It is found that the predictions were mostly in good agreement with the experimental data in terms of mass flow rate within 7% and temperature difference within 7%, respectively. (author)