Experimental investigation on the water film behavior with counter-current air flow

Containment external water film flow behavior is important for traditional chemical cooling and passive containment cooling system of the third generation pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant. Fully understanding of the water-falling behavior along a flat wall with the counter-current air can provide technical supports in industrial design and nuclear safety applications. Water film thickness, transient wave features and water film average velocity with counter-current air flow were measured and obtained by using capacitance probes and two cameras for different relative humidity and temperature. The influence of the counter-current air velocity on the water film behavior was studied on a flat plate. Experimental studies also considered the test plate angle and its effects on the water film thickness. Results show that the effect of air velocity on the water film behavior with counter-current air flow is different from the steady air experiments and there is the critical velocity. When the air velocity is lower than the critical points the water film behavior is similar as the non-air velocity condition. While, for large air velocity the effects is significant. The data was well compared with the previous correlations. (author)