Experimental and numerical study of freezing and flow characteristics of Wood’s Metal injection in a water pool

Abstract The present study aims at helping the development of a new sealing method to be applied to Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning. The idea of a new sealing method was introduced in order to stop the water leaks from the Reactor Containment Vessel. The main advantage of using liquid metal as a sealant is the solidification control. However before using it, the characteristics of the jet affecting the flow and the freezing must be better investigated and understood. In the present study the characteristics of liquid metal jet in water environment were experimentally and numerically investigated. A comparison between jet temperatures in case of different ambient Weber numbers is presented. The instabilities and the breakup of the jet were observed and their effect on temperature is discussed. A CFD analysis is also performed using a finite volume commercial code with a VOF approach for the jet interface tracking. The numerical model is validated with the available experimental data, and the injection is reproduced using a 2-D domain. The jet instabilities and breakup are correctly reproduced by numerical simulations and the temperature comparison also shows a good agreement with the experimental data.