Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis presents the design, development, and preliminary testing for a natural circulation test loop at the University of Idaho. The loop stands 19-ft tall, and is designed to handle high temperatures and pressures. To use the loop, a heater and heat exchanger were developed to add and remove heat at the same rate. A 4 kW immersion heater adds heat, and a custom tube-in-tube heat exchanger removes heat. A pressurizer and control system was also designed for higher pressure tests. A pump, valve, and flow meter combination were used to the flow of cooling water, and thus the heat removed.

Temperature profiles were analyzed for low pressure tests (48 kPa, 7psi) and high pressure tests (1724 kPa, 250 psi). Heat exchanger temperature profiles were also measured and heat exchanger effectiveness determined. Results show reasonable agreement with CFD results from other studies. Suggestions for improving the loop are also given.