THE LIMITS OF CONDITIONAL STABILITY FOR SINGLE-PHASE NATURAL CIRCULATION WITH THROUGHFLOW IN A FIGURE-OF-8 LOOP

Abstract

This paper is based on the investigations on the stability of natural circulation with throughflow in a figure-of-eight loop, a configuration that is employed in the pressure tube type heavy water reactors. The investigations have been both experimental as well as theoretical. The latter include both the linear stability analysis as well as the nonlinear finite difference analysis. The finite difference analysis has been used not only to identify the limits of the stable and unstable regimes but also used to identify the limits of the conditionally stable regime. Good agreement is found between theory and experiment.