Characterization of the Liquid Sodium Spray Generated by a Pipework Hole

Abstract – Due to its advantageous thermodynamic characteristics at high temperature (550 °C), liquid sodium is the main candidate to be the cooling fluid for Generation IV nuclear reactors SFR (Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors). Now, sodium reacts very violently, both with the water and the oxygen of the air. Only few data were known about the liquid sodium behaviour when spread in the environment through micro defects. These are often present in a cooling circuit in welded or sealed joints and more rarely in the pipes. Micro defects, on the other hand, can be also generated in a cooling circuit because of the vibrations always present in a circuit into which a fluid runs. A new set-up, named LISOF, was built for testing high temperature liquid sodium when passing through micro defects and generating sprays or jets. Sprays and jets were generated by means of nozzles embedding sub millimetric holes the diameter of which was: 0.2mm, 0.4mm, 0.5mm. Tests were performed by pressurizing liquid sodium (550°C) at: 3, 6 and 9 barg. Normal and high speed cinematography were used for the direct observation of the liquid sodium sprays while Phase Doppler Interferometry was used for the measurement of the droplets characteristics and velocity. Tests concerning the behaviour of the high temperature liquid sodium firing in air or in contact with the cement cover applied to a scaled down core catcher simulacrum were also performed. The paper presents the built set-up and the collected results.