DYNASTY: An Experimental Loop for the Study of Natural Circulation with Internally Heated Fluids

This paper deals with the design and the features of the DYNASTY (DYnamics of NAtural circulation for molten SalT internallY heated) facility. DYNASTY is a natural circulation loop aimed at studying the dynamics of natural circulation with internally heated fluids. Although several works have been carried out on the analysis of free convection loops with localized hot and cold heat sinks ("conventional" natural circulation case), the instance of an internal and distributed power source inside the system has been little investigated. The effects of the internal heat generation on the dynamic behavior of natural circulation have been highlighted by semi-analytical and numerical models developed in our previous studies. Such analyses have been partially validated against conventional natural circulation experiments, and DYNASTY will provide the required data to complete their validation.