Measurement of Void Fraction Distribution in a Sphere-Packed Bed Using X-Ray Imaging

In the safety study on a sodium-cooled fast reactor, it is assumed that the high-temperature fuel debris are formed because of a core disruptive accident. During the cooling of the fuel debris, gas-liquid two-phase flow can be generated in the debris due to the coolant boiling. To improve the prediction accuracy of the flow characteristics, detailed measurement of the gas-liquid two-phase flow in the debris bed is required. In this study, gas-liquid two-phase flow in a quasi-two-dimensional sphere-packed bed, which simulates the debris bed, is visualized by using X-ray imaging. The experimental results show that the local void fraction increases near the splitting section in the packed bed and decreases near the coalescence section.