Thermo-Hydraulics Characteristic Study of Vapor Explosion

The fuel/coolant interaction (FCI) vapor explosion generates more heat than the loss. Low temperature molten materials jet and single droplet fuel/coolant interaction has been investigated by using an observable experimental apparatus. The experimental results showed that many factors affect the vapor explosion, such as the temperature conductivity coefficient of simulant molten materials; the triggering; the Taylor instability; penetrating manner; molt metal temperature and coolant temperature etc. For the molten metal jet vapor explosion, the higher temperature conductivity coefficient is, the easier the vapor explosion is, and the higher temperature the explosion needs. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability and the triggering promote the vapor explosion. When the molten tin alloy temperature is about 600°C to 700°C, the pressure reached maximum value. The increasing coolant temperature would decrease the pressure of the vapor explosion.Copyright © 2008 by ASME