Analysis of two-phase flow velocity measurements by cross-correlation techniques and the applicability of the drift flux model for their interpretation

An extensive and detailed investigation of two-phase flow velocity measurements by cross-correlating noise signals of information carriers (neutrons, gammas, visible light) modulated by the two-phase flow and registered by two axially placed detectors outside the flow is pursued. To this end, a detailed analysis of velocity measurements in experimental loops and a large number of velocity measurements in a commercial BWR is undertaken, and the applicability and limitations of the drift flux model for their interpretation is investigated. On the basis of this extensive analysis, the authors propose a physically plausible explanation for the deviations in the upper part of the core, expound on why the drift flux model is, to a great extent, not suitable for interpreting two-phase flow velocity measurements by cross-correlation techniques reported in the present work, and conclude that due to the large number of uncertainties and the lack of detailed knowledge about the kind of microstructures of the flow which the detectors prefer to ''sample'', one can safely assume that at least in the lower half of the core the velocity measured can be well approximated by the velocity of the centre of volume, from which the mass fluxes can readily be computed. (Auth.)