Integral Circulation Experiment: Thermal–hydraulic simulator of a heavy liquid metal reactor

Abstract In the frame of the IP-EUROTRANS (6th Framework Program EU), domain DEMETRA, ENEA was involved in the Work Package 4.5 “Large Scale Integral Test”, devoted to characterize a relevant portion of a sub-critical ADS reactor block (core, internals, heat exchanger, cladding for fuel elements) in steady state, transient and accidental conditions. More in details ENEA assumed the commitment to perform an integral experiment aiming to reproduce the primary flow path of the “European Transmutation Demonstrator (ETD)” pool-type nuclear reactor, cooled by Lead Bismuth Eutectics (LBE). This experimental activity, called “Integral Circulation Experiment (ICE)”, has been implemented merging the efforts of several research institutes, among which, besides ENEA, FZK, CRS4 and University of Pisa, allowing to design an appropriate test section to be installed in the CIRCE facility. The goal of the experiments is therefore to demonstrate the technological feasibility of a heavy liquid metal (HLM) nuclear system pool-type in a relevant scale (1 MW), investigating the related thermal–hydraulic behaviour (heat source and heat exchanger coupling, primary system and downcomer coupling, gas trapping into the main stream, thermal stratification in the pool, forced and mixed convection in rod bundle) under both steady state and transient conditions. Moreover the preliminary as well as the planned experiments aims to address performance and reliability tests of some prototypical components, such as heat source, heat exchanger, chemistry control system. The paper reports a detailed description of the experiment, the design performed for the test section and its main components as well as the preliminary experimental results carried out in the first experimental campaign run on the CIRCE pool, which consists of a full power steady state test. The preliminary experimental results carried out have demonstrate the proper design of the test section trough the experiment goals as well as the HLM primary system technological viability. Moreover the results depicted into the paper are the first experimental data made available, especially for what concern the HLM pool thermal–hydraulic in a large scale system.