Analysis of gas-liquid metal two-phase flows using a reactor safety analysis code SIMMER-III

SIMMER-III, a safety analysis code for liquid-metal fast reactors (LMFRs), includes a momentum exchange model based on conventional correlations for ordinary gas-liquid flows, such as an air-water system. From the viewpoint of safety evaluation of core disruptive accidents (CDAs) in LMFRs, we need to confirm that the code can predict the two-phase flow behaviors with high liquid-to-gas density ratios formed during a CDA. In the present study, the momentum exchange model of SIMMER-III was assessed and improved using experimental data of two-phase flows containing liquid metal, on which fundamental information, such as bubble shapes, void fractions and velocity fields, has been lacking. It was found that the original SIMMER-III can suitably represent high liquid-to-gas density ratio flows including ellipsoidal bubbles as seen in lower gas fluxes. In addition, the employment of Kataoka-Ishii's correlation has improved the accuracy of SIMMER-III for gas-liquid metal flows with cap-shape bubbles as identified in higher gas fluxes. Moreover, a new procedure, in which an appropriate drag coefficient can be automatically selected according to bubble shape, was developed. Through this work, the reliability and the precision of SIMMER-III have been much raised with regard to bubbly flows for various liquid-to-gas density ratios. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.