The effectiveness of a thermal energy storage (TES) system is typically characterized with the help of thermal stratification or temperature gradients along the direction of heat injection, which is typically the flow direction of heat transfer fluid. The steepness of temperature gradients are a direct indicator of the effectiveness or efficiency of the heat storage or dispatch process. The temperature gradient evolution along the packed bed of ceramic particles upon saturated steam injection is presented in this work. Distributed temperature sensing based on optical frequency domain reflectometry was deployed in a packed bed of ceramic particles to capture the thermal front evolution in the axial direction. The physical processes accompanying steam injection in packed beds are complex due to phase change, transitioning two-phase flow, and changes in condensate accumulation. Therefore, the variation of thermal response of the TES system for various steam injection flow rates was experimentally studied using a high-resolution distributed temperature sensing system in a chemically inert alumina particle-packed bed. Distinct zones of different heat transfer modes were observed during the steam injection experiments. A distinct conduction zone, evident from diffuse thermal fronts, was observed at low flow rates, and these thermal gradients became sharper as the flow rate increased. The diffuse thermal fronts in the heat storage media suggest a low exergy efficiency of the TES system, as energy losses started initiating before a significant fraction of the bed was saturated with steam.

In case of some nuclear reactors, seawater is used as an emergency resource to remove the decay heat from the reactor core. This study aims to improve the understanding of boiling heat transfer with seawater coolants. Under the boiling conditions with seawater, the mass transfer of the dissolved impurities to the heated surface is expected to significantly impact the heat transfer characteristics. The focus of this experimental work is to measure the differences of the heat transfer performance between seawater and tapwater with electrically heated cylindrical section in a vertical annulus. High speed visualization is performed to quantify and characterize the bubble dynamics parameters. The experimental results indicate an enhanced heat transfer coefficient with seawater in the initial transient under saturated boiling followed by an asymptotic reduction to values similar to tapwater. Under subcooled boiling, a consistent reduced heat transfer coefficient was observed in seawater for a range of heat fluxes. The high speed visualization of subcooled boiling showed fewer and smaller bubbles nucleating off the heat transfer surface in seawater indicating a lower evaporative flux as compared to tapwater.

Recent studies have shown that the presence of dissolved salts in water can exhibit peculiar flow boiling and two-phase flow regimes. Two-phase flow and convective flow boiling are typically characterized with the help of void fraction measurements. To quantitatively improve our understanding of two-phase flow and boiling phenomenon with seawater coolant, void fraction data are needed, which can not be obtained from optical imaging. In this paper, we present experimental void fraction measurements of saturated flow boiling of tap water and seawater using X-ray radiography. X-rays with a maximum energy level of 40 KeV were used for imaging the exit region of the heated test section. At lower heat flux levels, the two phase flow in seawater was bubbly and homogeneous in nature, resulting in higher void fractions as compared to tap water. With an increase in heat flux, the flow regime was similar to slug flow, and void fraction measurements approached similarity with tap water. The predicted pressure drop using the measured void faction shows good agreement with the measured total pressure drop across the test section, demonstrating the validity of the measurement process.

In Fukushima Daichii accident, seawater was injected into the reactor core to cool the decay heat generated within the debris bed. Seawater contains dissolved constituents that precipitate out and deposit in the porous debris bed as the liquid coolant is converted to steam leading to degradation in the coolability. Very little is known about the efficacy of the process and to what