Two-Phase Flow Patterns in a Four by Four Rod Bundle

Air-water two-phase flow patterns in a four by four square lattice rod bundle consisting of an acrylic channel box of 68 mm in width and transparent rods of 12 mm in diameter were observed by utilizing a high speed video camera, FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene) tubes for rods, and a fiberscope inserted in a rod. The FEP possesses the same refractive index as water, and thereby, whole flow patterns in the bundle and local flow patterns in subchannels were successfully visualized with little optical distortion. The ranges of liquid and gas volume fluxes, <J_G> and <J_L>, in the present experiments were 0.1 < <J_L> < 2.0 m/s and 0.04 < <J_G> < 8.85 m/s, which covered typical two-phase flow patterns appearing in a fuel bundle of a boiling water nuclear reactor. As a result, the following conclusions were obtained: (1) the region of slug flow in the <J_G> – <J_L> flow pattern diagram is so narrow that it can be regarded as a boundary between bubbly and churn flows, (2) the boundary between bubbly and churn flows is close to the boundary between bubbly and slug flows of the Mishima & Ishii’s flow pattern transition model, and (3) the boundary between churn and annular flows is well predicted by the Mishima & Ishii’s model.