UNIVERSITY OF LONDON and IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON M.Eng EXAMINATION IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 2009 M.

Eng EXAMINATION IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 2009 M.Eng EXAMINATION IN MATERIALS 2009

PARTS III AND IV and

M.Sc. in ADVANCED CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND ASSOCIATED M.Scs

For Internal Students of Imperial College London

This paper is also taken for the relevant examination for the Associateship

NUCLEAR THERMAL HYDRAULICS Monday 27 April 2009: 14.00-15.30 Answer ALL PARTS of both questions

All questions carry equal marks

THIS EXAMINATION PAPER HAS FOUR PAGES IN TOTAL WHICH INCLUDES THIS COVER SHEET TURN OVER FOR QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1 (a) For isentropic flow of an ideal gas though a nozzle, derive the following expression for the critical mass flux:

M crit

k = A po RT o
*

1/ 2

k +1 2

( k +1) / 2 ( k 1)

Here, A* is the flow area at which the gas velocity is equal to the sonic velocity a, po and To are the stagnation pressure and temperature (approximately equal to the upstream values if the upstream velocity is low compared to the nozzle throat velocity), k the ratio of specific heat capacities (cp/cv) and R (J kg-1 K-1) the gas constant. Use may be made of the following relationships:
a = kRT *
To 1 + k = 2 T*

po 1 + k = p* 2

k /( k 1)

(16 marks) (b) Calculate the critical mass flux for discharge through a nozzle with an effective area (A*) of 0.01 m2 of an ideal gas with a stagnation pressure (po) of 5 bar and a stagnation temperature (To) of 300 K. The gas has a value of k = 1.3 and a molecular weight of 18 kg kmol -1. The value of the Universal Gas Constant Ru is 8314 J kmol-1K-1. (10 marks) (c) Derive the following relationship between void fraction ( G ) , quality (x), slip ratio (S) and phase densities ( G and L ) for a gas-liquid flow:

G =

x x + S (1 x) G / L
(10 marks)

(d) A two-phase mixture of steam and water with a quality (x) of 0.5 flows through a pipe. If the steam and water densities ( G and L ) are 70 and 655 kg m-3 respectively, calculate the void fraction ( G ) for the cases where the slip ratio (S) is 1.0 (i.e. homogeneous flow) and 2.0 respectively. (6 marks) (e) What are the main characteristics of an ideal coolant for a thermal nuclear reactor? How closely does the most common coolant (light water) match up to these ideal characteristics? (8 marks)

QUESTION 2 (a) Derive from first principles an expression for the radial temperature distribution in a typical commercial nuclear fuel pin such as an AGR or PWR. Take the external heat transfer coefficient as h, the gap conductance as G, and the local bulk coolant temperature as Tf. (20 marks) b) Compute the maximum fuel temperature for the conditions in table Q2. (8 marks) (c) Extend the algebraic analysis in (a) above to allow for a thin layer of lowconductivity crud on the cladding outer surface. (8 marks) (d) By the time it is removed from the reactor, the gap conductance has changed to 0.7x104 W m-2K-1. Also, a layer of crud of conductivity 5.0Wm-1K-1, thickness 0.15mm, has formed on the outer surface of the cladding. Compute the maximum fuel temperature under these conditions. (8 marks) (e) Suggest reasons why the gap conductance might have changed by the time the pin is removed. (6 marks)

Table Q2 Pellet inside diameter Pellet outside diameter Clad inside diameter Clad outside diameter Volumetric rating of pellet Pellet conductivity Clad conductivity Gap conductance Local coolant bulk temperature Heat transfer coefficient to coolant m m m m W/m3 W/mK W/mK W/m2K K W/m2K 5.00 x 10-4 8.36 x 10-3 8.36 x 10-3 9.50 x 10-3 7.5509 x 108 3.00 12.12 1.0 x 104 590 3.7631 x 104