This facility comprises a water supply pipe, a quartz test section (110, 180 or 290 mm diameter) in which the debris bed is placed, together with its instrumentation, and a steam relief pipe. It is used to conduct refl ooding tests by means of injecting water onto a bed of metal particles heated by induction. The instrumentation measures the different temperatures and pressures in the debris bed, the fl ow of injected water and the fl ow of generated steam.
The tests conducted in the PRELUDE facility help to validate key technical options for PEARL:
- Induction heating to obtain heating sequences between 100-300 W/kg with homogeneous distribution in the different particle beds (slightly oxidised steel balls with 1, 2, 4 and 8 mm diameters), as well as to reach a temperature of 1,000°C at the hottest spot in the debris bed.
- Material of the test section ensuring the thermomechanical resistance of the tube containing the particles bed,
- Instrumentation to record the fi rst thermohydraulic measurements at atmospheric pressure when refl ooding the particle bed (about 25 kg) heated to of 400, 700 and 1,000°C.
This modular facility will remain operational to support the larger-scale PEARL facility (debris bed of about 500 kg) for complementary separate effects tests.
Facility is not operating, now called PEARL.