Abstract
Experimental studies into the process of mixing two different-temperature flows of sodium coolant in a T-shaped connection of cylindrical channels (tee) have been carried out. The measurements were carried out for two combinations of flow rates and temperatures of hot and cold sodium. The main result of the experiments is the characteristics of temperature fluctuations both in the sodium flow and on the outer surface of the tee pipes. Spectral analysis of signals from thermocouples located on the axis of the pipe in the mixing zone showed that the flow is turbulent in all cases. The average temperature of the pipe surface in regime 1 (the flow rate of cold sodium is approximately half the flow rate of hot sodium) in the observation zone increases monotonically with distance from the side (cold) branch pipe downstream as does the intensity of temperature fluctuations. In regime 2 (cold sodium flow rate is comparable to hot sodium flow rate), there is a small temperature dip in the middle of the observation region, which indicates the presence of a stationary reverse vortex in this region. In regime 2, the level of pulsations is lower than in regime 1 and is maintained over the entire measurement area. The amplitude of temperature fluctuations on the surface of the tee is significantly lower than in the flow, but the structure of the Fourier spectra is similar. With the help of a infrared camera (IR camera), variations in the temperature field on the surface of the tee are visualized, which manifest themselves in the form of emerging and migrating with the flow areas with an increased amplitude of temperature pulsations. The process is not regular and does not indicate the presence of periodic temperature fluctuations on the wall. The spatio-temporal structure of the temperature pulsation field is analyzed by wavelet analysis methods, which make it possible to identify nonstationary quasi-periodic pulsations in a certain region of the channel and in a certain frequency range.
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Kolesnichenko, I.V., Khalilov, R.I., Shestakov, A.V. et al. Mixing of Different Temperature Flows of Liquid Sodium in the Pipeline behind the Tee. Therm. Eng. 70, 203–209 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0040601523030023
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0040601523030023