Effect of transverse venting on flame acceleration and transition to detonation in a large channel. [PWR; BWR]

The FLAME facility was built at Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to study flame acceleration, transition to detonation, and other hydrogen combustion problems relevant to nuclear reactor safety. The size of the structure is roughly half scale of the ice condenser upper plenum. The facility permits large-scale tests to be carried out with energetic (detonable) mixtures. The tests reported in this paper were carried out with the channel free from obstructions except for two 30-cm diameter mixing fans, each near opposite ends of the channel, and thermocouple instrumentation ''rakes.'' The hydrogen concentration was varied up to stoichiometric and the degree of top venting used was 0%, 13% and 50%.