New theoretical model for two-phase flow discharged from stratified two-phase region through small break

Abstract

A theoretical and experimental study was conducted to understand two-phase flow discharged from a stratified two-phase region through a small break. This problem is important for an analysis of a small break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in a light water reactor (LWR). The present theoretical results show that a break quality is a function of h/h, where h is the elevation difference between a bulk water level in the upstream region and the break and b the suffix for entrainment initiation. This result is consistent with existing experimental results in literature. An air-water experiment was also conducted changing a break orientation as an experimental parameter to develop and assess the model. Comparisons between the model and the experimental results show that the present model can satisfactorily predict the flow rate and the quality at the break without using any adjusting constant when liquid entrainment occurs in a stratified two-phase region. When gas entrainment occurs, the experimental data are correlated well by using a single empirical constant. © 1988 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.