Reflooding experiments on a 49-rod cluster containing a long 90% blockage

A series of reflooding experiments was performed on a model fuel assembly, containing a very severe partial blockage, in the THETIS rig. The assembly comprised 49 full length, electrically heated fuel rod simulators and the blockage was created by attaching thin-walled, preformed swellings to a group of 16 rods. Results are presented for single phase and forced reflooding experiments. The most important findings relate to the improvements in heat transfer created by spacer grids and the nature of the heat transfer processes within the blockage. Spacer grids are shown to improve heat transfer by increasing turbulence and also, when wet, by cooling the steam flowing through them. Liquid penetration evidently deteriorates as the rewetting front approaches the blockage, allowing the steam through the blockage to superheat strongly and giving rise to a late peak in cladding temperature. At low reflooding rates there is a temperature penalty associated with the blockage which becomes increasingly larger as the reflooding rate is reduced. The adequacy of cooling in this very severe blockage becomes questionable when the reflooding rate falls to about 2cm/s. (U.K.)