Temperature distribution in the model of the peripheral region of a fuel assembly with a liquid metal coolant

The paper presents the experimental results on the distribution of the outer wall and coolant temperatures in a simplified model of the peripheral region of a fuel assembly (FA) consisting of two parallel cells. The experimental setup was equipped with three fuel element simulators with a diameter of 10 mm and a length of 500 mm. The power of each fuel element simulator was up to 2000 W (4 kW/m). During operation, the fuel elements were connected to the power source in turn, which allowed determination of the features of temperature distribution in the model with non-uniform energy release. A movable thermocouple and an IR camera were used for measurements. The data obtained for a water coolant and a lead-bismuth alloy are compared. It is shown that the main patterns of temperature distribution are generally similar for different coolants.