Static Instability in Supercritical Parallel-Channel Systems

An analytical study of static instability in parallel channels at supercritical pressure is conducted. Until now, primarily the density-wave type has been investigated and reported. This paper derives an analytical expression for the static instability in parallel channels, which lends useful insight. This topic that would be of immense value to the new reactor designs that aim to use supercritical light water on the primary side. The finding is that static instability would unlikely be a problem in a supercritical pressure reactor because of the low inlet core temperature that it would be encountered.