SV1 SV2

WG4

PROCESS PIPE IN THE LOOP

WAS INSULATED OUTSIDE
BY THERMO WOOL

WG3

PROCESS PIPE MADE OF

SS-316
(ID 20 mm, OD 25 mm)

WG2

WG1

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of Natural circulation boiling loop (NCBL)

NATURAL CIRCULATION BOILING
LOOP (NCBL)

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of cooling loop (secondary loop) of NCBL

 SV2

CONTROL VALVE
ACTUATOR IN THE
COOLING LOOP

PRESSURE, TEMPERATURE, HEATER

POWER AND 2-PHASE VALVE
CONTROLLERS
HEATER CONTROL PANEL

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of control panel of NCBL

Different parts of the NCBL:
Different parts of process pipe and its dimension

All parts of loop pipe at the NCBL are made of ss-316.

Parts Orientation Length Diameter

(mm)
(mm)
OD 25
Heated Section Vertical 1000
ID 20
Adiabatic Riser Section Vertical 2000 do
Upper Plenum Horizontal 1200 do
Lower Plenum Horizontal 1200 do
Condenser Vertical 600 do
Condenser Tubes (4 Nos) Vertical 450
ID 10

Down-Comer Vertical 2350 do

Vertical do
System Process Pipe (Rectangular loop rectangle of =8400
pipe includes all the above parts) height 3000
mm

Cooling section

Other than the process pipe/loop pipe of the NCBL, there is cooling section (secondary loop)
which constitutes shell and tubes (4 nos.) condenser, cooling water pumps (2 nos.), control valve
with actuator placed between the inlet of condenser and cooling pumps, and water tank.

Control panel and data acquisition system (SCADA panel)

Control panel of the NCBL consists of cold leg temperature controller (CLTC), pressure
controller (PC), heater power controller (thyrister panel) (HPC), 2-phase valve controller to
regulate the opening of the 2-phase valve placed at the top right corner of the loop pipe, safety
temperature controller, pumping duration controller for alternating start and stop of the two
cooling water pump in the interval of 20 min, water level controller to stop the cooling water
pumps if the water at the tank drops below the certain level. The control panel also constitutes
valve position display (2-phase valve and cooling water control valve), 2-phase valve coefficient
display, and differential pressure display.

The integral part of the control panel is the data acquisition system/data logger, which interfaces
the all controllable signal with its parameter and the signals from the different types of sensors,
such as temperature, pressure, electromagnetic flow meter (EFM) with the computer through
USB port. In the computer, the software DAQ and TEMPERATURE 8.21 are available to log the
signals from all the sensors and controllers, respectively.

Different types of sensors, instruments and controllers of the NCBL and its
operation:
Temperature and pressure sensors are manifolded at different locations of the rectangular process
pipe and cooling water pipe, while electromagnetic flowmeter (EFM) is placed at lower plenum
of the process pipe.

Temperature sensors

Eight resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) T1T8 made of SS-310 with the range of 0400 oC
are placed at different locations of the loop pipe inlet and outlet of the heater section, three
sections of equal length gap of the riser length, just below the condenser in the process pipe, and
cooling water inlet and outlet. These RTDs are used to measure the temperature of the boiling
steam-water mixture flow of the loop.
One thermocouple (K-type) is placed at the annular region between the process pipe and high
temperature aluminum tube to measure outer wall temperature at heater section.
Pressure sensors
Six pressure sensors P1P6 made of SS-310 (WIKA make, Germany) with the range of 010 bar
are placed at heater inlet, heater outlet and the top of the riser. The differential pressure
transmitter (DPT) made of SS-310 with the range of 00 bar is placed across the distance of 0.6
m in the heater section to measure the pressure drop.

Flow measuring instrument

The electromagnetic flow meter (EFM) with 20 mm polytetrafluoro ethylene lining and the range
of 01.8 m3/hr is placed at the mid of the lower plenum to measure the loop flow. As the
magnetic materials can induce the magnetic field of the electromagnetic flow meter, any such
type of materials should not be kept near the flow meter for the sake of accurate measurement. It
may be noted that EMF can accurately measure very low flow and reverse flow as experienced in
the natural circulation loop.
Valve
A two-phase valve is placed at the upper plenum to regulate the loop flow rate by changing the
loop resistance. The opening of the valve is controlled by a temperature controller in the control
panel.
A manual ball-valve is placed at the bottom left hand corner of the loop to vent out dirty water
remains after the experimentation.
Other one manual ball-valve is placed at the top right hand corner of the loop to vent out
unwanted air trapped in the loop which eases the process of cleaning and loading the loop by
water.
A manual needle valve is placed at line between the inlet solenoid valve (SV 1) and the
compressor to finely control the pressurization of loop.

Steps of experiment with the NCBL:

1) Distilled water is prepared in the ultra quartz distiller.

2) In the upper plenum one solenoid valve is connected with the compressor. Before the
start of experiments, air is blown by the compressor through the inlet solenoid valve
(SV1) at the desired pressure (0 to 10 bar). The dirty water inside the loop is blown out
and drained through the drain valve at the bottom left hand corner of the loop.

3) There is a water inlet at the top right hand corner of the loop through which distilled
water is poured in the loop.

4) Keeping all the manual valves closed, pressure is applied by the compressor through SV1
to check if there is any leakage in the loop. The NCBL is pressurized during experiment
according to the procedure.
5) Now, the heater power is switched on. The heater power is controlled by the thyristor-
panel according to the set value of the heater controller in the SCADA Panel. Through the
heater controller an output signal is sent to the thyristor according to which the terminal
voltage of heater-coil is regulated.

6) As the water inside the loop is heated the flow in the loop is single phase flow, only at the
start up time. Duration of the single phase flow in the loop depends on the heating power
Q, loop pressure P, and inlet subcooling Tsub(=Tin-Tsat). As heating proceeds the flow
tends to become two phase, as observed by the vigorous oscillation of flow rates in the
Electro Magnetic Flow meter. The magnitude of flow-oscillations becomes rapid if the
flow is two phase. Also if continuous bubbly flow, churn flow, slug flow, etc. occurs
periodically or chaotic interval as observed through the watch glass, then it is an
indication of two phase flow.

7) In the cooling controller of the SCADA panel the set value (say 70 oC) is given and as the
temperature of the water inside the loop reaches close to the set value the cooling water
pump is operated.

8) As the temperature of fluid (steamwater) in the loop rises above the set value, the
cooling controller sends an output signal to the valve actuator located between the pump
and the inlet of the condenser. The actuator opens and cooling water flows in the
condenser to cool the two phase flow of the loop.

9) There is a solenoid valve SV2 in the upper plenum. In the pressure controller of the
SCADA- panel a set value of pressure (04 bar) is given. The pressure controller sends
an output signal (220 v) to the solenoid valve SV 2 to open it, as long as the pressure of
the steamwater inside the loop remains above the set value. The open SV 2 releases
compressed air/steam to maintain the pressure inside the loop at the desired level. As
soon as the pressure drops below the set value, the solenoid valve closes to stop the
release of air/steam.

10) Via data logger the signals from the sensors, such as temperature, pressure and loop flow
rate (Electromagnetic flow meter) placed at the different portions of the loop are logged.
The data logger is connected to computer Through USB port. The data logger software in
 the computer logs data from the data logger in the interval of 2 seconds during
experimentation.

11) In the same manner the software TEMPERATURE 8.21 logs the controller parameters
and signals from the SCADA Panel.