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Zhang, H.*; Umehara, Yutaro*; Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Eto, Atsuro*; Mori, Shoji*
Energy, 335, p.138090_1 - 138090_18, 2025/10
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.00(Thermodynamics)Nuclear power is a key low-carbon energy source for a carbon-neutral future. In boiling water reactors (BWRs), steam-water annular flow near fuel rods is crucial for reactor safety, but its high-temperature, high-pressure conditions (285
C, 7 MPa) make direct measurement challenges. To address this, we used an HFC134a-ethanol system at lower conditions (40C, 0.7 MPa) to simulate BWR annular flow. Using a high-speed camera and the constant electric current method, we analyzed liquid-film characteristics, wave velocity and frequency. We also examined surface tension and interfacial shear stress effects. Furthermore, we proposed a new correlation for base film thickness.
Masaki, Naoto*; Kaneko, Akiko*; Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki
Extended Abstracts for the 11th JSME-KSME Thermal and Fluid Engineering Conference (J-K TFEC11) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2025/10
In the event of a core meltdown in a nuclear reactor, molten fuel has a possibility to enter a coolant pool in a jet-like manner. Jet atomization promoting heat transfer between molten fuel and coolant is crucial for severe accident management. Previous studies of jet atomization have focused on interfacial shear stress acting on a jet because it contributes to the growth and deformation of interfacial waves and ultimately promote droplet formation. However, it is extremely difficult to observe interfacial wave evolution on a cylindrical jet and quantify interfacial shear stress acting on an interface. Then, the effect of interfacial shear stress acting on a jet is not fully clarified. This study aims to experimentally clarify the effect of interfacial shear stress on jet atomization. We conducted experiments in a liquid-liquid system using the 3D-LIF method and PIV. Herein, a glycerol-water solution was used as a jet phase and silicone oil as a continuous phase to match their refractive indices. A jet entered vertically downward through a 3 mm nozzle into a pool. The injection velocity was 2.6 m/s, and the pool depth was 30 mm. To use the 3D-LIF method and PIV with refractive index matching, Rhodamine 6G and tracer particles were used. As a result, waves on a jet interface were observed to have two modes. The larger waves appeared in a two-dimensional (axisymmetric) form at the interface more than 15 mm away from the nozzle, and three-dimensional smaller waves (wavelength 
= 1 mm) were found to form on the surface of these larger waves. Furthermore, the interfacial shear stress acting on the smaller waves was found to be greater than that acting on the larger waves. Droplets were also observed to form easily from the smaller waves. From these results, we experimentally concluded that high interfacial shear stress acting on small waves promotes droplet formation.
Yuki, Kohei*; Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Yuki, Kazuhisa*
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 12(4), p.24-00451_1 - 24-00451_8, 2025/08
Fuel debris at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station is typically cooled under immersion. However, an unexpected significant drop in water level results in coolant contact with high-temperature fuel debris having porous structure. In such scenarios, rapid cooling is essential, yet the thermal behavior at the liquid-solid interface, including capillary phenomena, is not well understood. This paper presents basic research evaluating the evaporation characteristics of droplets upon contact with metallic porous media featuring small pores under 1 mm. We conducted experiments using bronze or stainless steel porous media with pore diameters of 1, 40, or 100 
m to derive lifetime curves for droplets. Our findings indicate that Leidenfrost effect is mitigated on porous surfaces as the vapor can escape through the pores. Moreover, in bronze porous media, as the temperature increases, oxide film with a fine structure facilitates capillary action. In contrast, the low wettability of stainless steel porous media prevents capillary action, inhibiting droplet absorption and dispersion into the pores. Consequently, rapid cooling via the capillary action is unlikely if the fuel debris shares similar characteristics with steel porous media. Therefore, for risk management, the cooling system should be established assuming that capillary force does not act in the fuel debris.
Zhang, H.*; Umehara, Yutaro*; Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Mori, Shoji*
Proceedings of 12th International Conference of Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer (FFHMT 2025), P. 222_1, 2025/07
In the past decades, the liquid film characteristics of annular flow, such as film thickness and wave height, have been studied extensively. However, most of experimental data and analyses available in previous studies are limited to the air-water annular flows under near-atmospheric conditions. Thus, the variation in surface tension and gas-liquid density ratio is also limited, and their effects on the characteristics of annular flow are not well-understood. The objective of this study is to clarify the effect of surface tension and gas-liquid density ratio on the wave height and interfacial shear stress in annular flows. We conducted experiments for gas-liquid annular flows and measured the time-varying liquid film thickness. Using water and ethanol as working liquids, whereas nitrogen and HFC134a gas as working gases, we varied the surface tension range from 30.7 to 67.4 mN/m and density ratio range from 27 to 434. The accuracy of sensors for the measurement using the conductance probe method is 
5%. By post-processing for the measurement data, liquid film thicknesses (base, average, and maximum film thickness) and wave height were estimated. As the experimental results, the data of both the maximum film thickness and the height of disturbance wave converged on a single curve when they plotted for the interfacial shear stress. The reason was considered that the shape of the disturbance wave is decided by the balance between the surface tension and the interfacial shear stress. With additional analysis based on a potential method, a direct relationship between the height of disturbance wave and interfacial shear stress was clarified. These findings enhance the understanding of annular flow dynamics and contribute to improving the two-phase flow modelling.
Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*
Physics of Fluids, 37(3), p.033333_1 - 033333_20, 2025/03
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.00(Mechanics)In a severe accident, as molten fuel is assumed to behave as a wall-impinging jet in a shallow coolant pool, atomize and accumulate as fuel debris, it is important to reveal the atomization mechanisms of the wall-impinging jet. This study aimed to reveal the atomization mechanisms in the vortex-like flow of a wall-impinging jet in a shallow pool of a liquid-liquid system, focusing on droplet formation as an elementary process of atomization. To quantitatively investigate these mechanisms, we applied quantification methods to three-dimensional interfacial data obtained by a previous experimental study using three-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence with index matching. Detailed observations of the spreading behavior of droplets and vortex-like flow, along with quantitative estimations, found out that the vortex-like flow is the dominant source of droplets on the atomization. Further investigations into the forces acting on the vortex-like flow found out the formation and collapse processes of the vortex-like flow. The accelerations of the normal forces acting on the vortex-like flow can be represented by superficial centrifugal acceleration and gravitational acceleration. Our next analysis focused on investigating droplet formation as the elementary process of atomization. The results showed two droplet formation patterns: liquid-film breaking patterns, wherein droplets directly form from the liquid film, and the surfing pattern, wherein droplets form from interfacial waves on the liquid film. Subsequently, the droplet data were grouped using dimensionless numbers and compared with theoretical lines describing the different droplet formation mechanisms. This comparison revealed the mechanisms of droplet formation within the vortex-like flow.
Ono, Takuya; Tashiro, Shinsuke; Amano, Yuki; Yoshida, Naoki; Yoshida, Ryoichiro; Yamane, Yuichi
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 10 Pages, 2025/00
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.00(Nuclear Science & Technology)This paper reports the first case of hot zone formation in a combustion test simulating an organic solvent fire in a reprocessing plant. Our goal is to add a boilover component to a computational model for quantitatively predicting the accident progression of the fire. Although the scale of boilover combustion increases when hot zones are formed in the solvent, it has not been clarified whether or not a hot zone is formed in the combustion of a 30 percent tributyl phosphate (TBP)/dodecane solvent mixture. To clarify this point, we conducted beaker-scale combustion tests and measured the temperature distribution in the burning solvent with thermocouples to obtain the following results. (1) No hot zone was formed by the combustion of only dodecane. (2) In the combustion of TBP/dodecane, hot zones were not formed as long as dodecane remained in the solvent. (3) A hot zone was formed when only TBP was burned.
Yuki, Kohei*; Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Yuki, Kazuhisa*
Proceedings of 31st International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE31) (Internet), 4 Pages, 2024/11
Fuel debris in the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station is cooled under immersion condition. However, in the event of an unexpected decrease in water level, coolant contacts high-temperature fuel debris having porous structure. In this event, although fuel debris needs to be cooled rapidly, thermal behavior at liquid-solid contact, such as capillary phenomenon, remains unclear. In this paper, as basic research, we evaluate droplet evaporation characteristics after contact with metal porous media with small pores less than 1 mm. In experiment, to obtain life time curve of a droplet, bronze or stainless steel porous media having 1, 40, or 100 m pore diameter are utilized. Experimental results show that Leidenfrost phenomenon is suppressed on the porous surfaces because generated vapor can be discharged from the pores. Further, for bronze porous media, capillary phenomenon is observed as the temperature of the porous media increase because of generation of oxide film having fine structure. On the other hand, due to low wettability of stainless steel porous media, capillary phenomenon does not occur, and the droplet was not sucked and spread into pore. This indicates that rapid cooling by the capillary phenomenon can not be expected if fuel debris has the same characteristics as the stainless steel porous media.
Yoshida, Naoki; Ono, Takuya; Amano, Yuki; Yoshida, Ryoichiro; Abe, Hitoshi; Yamane, Yuichi
Nuclear Technology, 210(10), p.1999 - 2007, 2024/10
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：25.34(Nuclear Science & Technology)A malfunction of the cooling system of high-level liquid waste (HLLW) and failure of countermeasures may lead to the "evaporation to dryness due to the loss of cooling functions" (EDLCF) of HLLW. In the EDLCF, ruthenium (Ru) can be released at a greater fraction to initial amount than other elements in HLLW by forming gaseous Ru. It is important to identify the chemical form of the released gaseous Ru to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the events impacting the source term assessment of Ru in this accident, such as particle formation, gas absorption and deposition on migration pathways. In this study, we observed the ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy of the off-gas generated during the heating of an HLLW simulant. Employing a program that allows the separation and quantification of known components within the spectrum (ruthenium tetroxide (RuO
), nitrogen dioxide, and nitric acid), we attempted to analyze the composition of gaseous Ru within the generated off-gas. Our findings reveal RuO as the main component of the gaseous Ru in off-gas after comparing the total amount of released Ru and the RuO released amount obtained via spectroscopic analysis.
Sano, Naruto; Yamashita, Naoki; Watanabe, Masaya; Tsukada, Manabu*; Hoshino, Kazutoyo*; Hirai, Koki; Ikegami, Yuta*; Tashiro, Shinsuke; Yoshida, Ryoichiro; Hatakeyama, Yuichi; et al.
JAEA-Technology 2023-029, 36 Pages, 2024/03
JAEA-Technology-2023-029.pdf:2.47MB
At the Waste Safety Testing Facility (WASTEF), the gamma ray irradiation device "Gamma Cell 220" was relocated from the 4th Research Building of the Nuclear Science Research Institute in FY2019, and the use of gamma ray irradiation has begun. Initially, Fuel Cycle Safety Research Group, Fuel Cycle Safety Research Division, Nuclear Safety Research Center, Sector of Nuclear Safety Research and Emergency Preparedness, the owner of this device, conducted the tests as the main user, but since 2022, other users, including those outside the organization, have started using it. The gamma ray irradiation device "Gamma Cell 220" is manufactured by Nordion International Inc. in Canada. Since it was purchased in 1989, the built-in 
Co radiation source has been updated once, and safety research related to nuclear fuel cycles, etc. It is still used for this purpose to this day. This report summarizes the equipment overview of the gamma ray irradiation device "Gamma Cell 220", its permits and licenses at WASTEF, usage status, maintenance and inspection, and future prospects.
Koyama, Shinichi; Ikeuchi, Hirotomo; Mitsugi, Takeshi; Maeda, Koji; Sasaki, Shinji; Onishi, Takashi; Tsai, T.-H.; Takano, Masahide; Fukaya, Hiroyuki; Nakamura, Satoshi; et al.
Hairo, Osensui, Shorisui Taisaku Jigyo Jimukyoku Homu Peji (Internet), 216 Pages, 2023/11
In FY 2021 and 2022, JAEA perfomed the subsidy program for "the Project of Decommissioning and Contaminated Water Management (Development of Analysis and Estimation Technology for Characterization of Fuel Debris (Development of Technologies for Enhanced Analysis Accuracy, Thermal Behavior Estimation, and Abbreviated Analysis))" started in FY 2021. This presentation material summarized the results of the project, which will be available shortly on the website of Management Office for the Project of Decommissioning, Contaminated Water and Treated Water Management.
Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*
Nihon Kikai Gakkai Kanto Shibu Dai-29-Ki Sokai, Koenkai Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 5 Pages, 2023/10
To elucidate the behavior of molten fuels as a liquid jet in a shallow pool, which is assumed in a core meltdown accident of an LWR, and develop the evaluation method, we investigated the behavior of the vortical liquid film of the simulated wall-impinging liquid jet using 3-dimensional interface shape data obtained by the experiment in a liquid-liquid system.
Kawano, Takahiro*; Mizuta, Naoki; Ueta, Shohei; Tachibana, Yukio; Yoshida, Katsumi*
JAEA-Technology 2023-014, 37 Pages, 2023/08
JAEA-Technology-2023-014.pdf:2.35MB
Fuel compact for High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) is fabricated by calcinating a matrix consisting of graphite and binder with the coated fuel particle. The SiC-matrixed fuel compact uses a new matrix made of silicon carbide (SiC) replacing the conventional graphite. Applying the SiC-matrixed fuel compact for HTGRs is expected to improve their performance such as power densities. In this study, the sintering conditions for applying SiC as the matrix of fuel compacts for HTGR are selected, and the density and thermal conductivity of the prototype SiC are measured.
Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*
Physics of Fluids, 35(7), p.073309_1 - 073309_17, 2023/07
Times Cited Count：3 Percentile：28.24(Mechanics)The atomization of a liquid jet in an immiscible liquid-liquid system is significant for the safety in the nuclear industry field. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has developed an evaluation method of a melt fuel behavior as a liquid jet in an immiscible liquid-liquid system for subsequence using mechanistic numerical simulation and has investigated liquid jet behavior in a shallow pool through numerical simulations and experiments. The paper clarifies the atomization mechanism in the wall-impinging liquid jet. Herein, the atomization behavior in the wall-impinging liquid jet in a shallow pool in an immiscible liquid-liquid system was studied in terms of droplet formation and flow field using numerical simulation and the dispersed-phase tracking method. The results show that the droplet formation in the liquid film flow of the wall-impinging liquid jet had the three patterns, and we obtained the droplet properties immediately after droplet formation and developed the theoretical criterion regions using the dimensionless numbers for droplet formation. We characterized the patterns by comparing them with the regions and elucidated the droplet formation mechanisms depending on their sources. Moreover, we elucidated that the relationship between droplet formation as the local behaviors of the jet and atomization as the whole behavior.
Okita, Shoichiro; Mizuta, Naoki; Takamatsu, Kuniyoshi; Goto, Minoru; Yoshida, Katsumi*; Nishimura, Yosuke*; Okamoto, Koji*
Proceedings of 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2023/05
Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Kitatsuji, Yoshihiro; Hasegawa, Makoto*; Kishimoto, Tadafumi*
Proceedings of 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2023/05
From the viewpoint of energy security in Japan and reduction of the environmental load, continuous operation of light water reactors is essential. Since a pH adjuster with enriched Li-7 ions is required for water quality control on PWR, the development of Li-7 enrichment technology is one of the key issues. The multi-channel counter-current electrophoresis (MCCCE) method has been developed as the technology with a low environmental load. To put this method into practical use, it is necessary to understand Li-7 ion behavior in the channel flow and optimize the experimental condition to separate Li-7 and its isotope. In this paper, to understand Li-7 ion behavior in a single channel of the experimental apparatus, a numerical simulation method based on a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code with a particle tracking method, TPFIT-LPT, was developed. In the method, the motion of multiple ions under the electric field was simulated as a particle with an added velocity by the electric field. The difference in the isotopes was represented by changing of the magnitude of the added velocity. We also considered that although it is impossible to measure the behavior of each ion, it is important to measure the flow velocity of the bulk fluid for the validation of the numerical simulation. We developed a lab-scale experimental apparatus in which the single channel of the actual apparatus was simplified to measure the flow velocity by Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). We set a pulsation flow condition on the lab-scale experiment, which is one of difficult conditions for the numerical simulation, and measured the velocity. As the result, we confirmed that the pulsation flow was reproduced. We set the measured data as the inlet boundary condition of the numerical simulation and conducted it. As the numerical result, we confirmed the ions affected by the electric field moved upstream with pulsation. We also confirmed the effect of the electric field on the motion of the isotope.
Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Horiguchi, Naoki; Furuichi, Hajime*; Katono, Kenichi*
Proceedings of 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2023/05
Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Horiguchi, Naoki
Nihon Kikai Gakkai Kanto Shibu Dai-29-Ki Sokai, Koenkai Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 5 Pages, 2023/03
To reduce contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and consider the fuel debris retrieval method, a numerical simulation method is required to evaluate the effects of water injection. Then, we are developing a multiphase CFD simulation method based on the three-dimensional two-fluid model to evaluate thermal-hydraulic behavior in the primary containment vessel. The numerical simulation method was developed by introducing the required functions into the ACE-3D. This paper presents an overview of the porous model introduced to the ACE-3D to evaluate thermal-hydraulic behavior in fuel debris. In addition, we performed the numerical simulation for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant unit 2 under the condition in which water injection stopped. And we compared the analysis results by the modified ACE-3D with more detailed three-dimensional CFD results by JUPITER.
Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*
Proceedings of 12th Japan-Korea Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS12) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2022/10
For safety evaluation of nuclear reactors in severe accidents, it is important to estimate physical quantities of fragments generated from the molten fuel jet, which falls in a pool and breaks up. The evaluation method has been developed for the behavior as liquid jet with hydrodynamic interaction including fuel coolant interaction (FCI). In case of a shallow pool assumed in ex-vessel, the molten fuel jet is assumed to behave as wall-impinging liquid jet and to form liquid film flow spreading on the floor with/without fragmentation. In our research, focusing on hydrodynamic interaction and the transient 3-dimensional spreading on the floor, we have developed the evaluation method by numerical simulation using the two-phase flow simulation code with interface tracking method (TPFIT) developed by JAEA and, the experimental method using the 3D-LIF method in liquid-liquid system for the validation data. In our previous studies, we investigated the wall-impinging liquid jet behavior with fragmentation and observed that the liquid film flow had some characteristic parts transiently. Since it indicates that the quantities change depending on the parts and affect the safety evaluation, it is important to measure the quantities of the fragments generated from each part. This paper explains the measurement of the physical quantities of the fragments generated from each part of the wall-impinging liquid jet in a shallow pool for the validation of the numerical simulation. We conducted an experiment with the 3D-LIF method and segmented the experimental data based on the fragmentation point over the liquid film flow using the dispersed phase tracking method, developed by JAEA. Then, we measured the diameter and amount of the fragments from the segmented experimental data and investigated their changing trend.
Tobita, Daiki*; Monji, Hideaki*; Yamashita, Susumu; Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Sugawara, Takanori
Proceedings of 12th Japan-Korea Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS12) (Internet), 5 Pages, 2022/10
Yamaguchi, Akinori*; Yokotsuka, Muneyuki*; Furuta, Masayo*; Kubota, Kazuo*; Fujine, Sachio*; Mori, Kenji*; Yoshida, Naoki; Amano, Yuki; Abe, Hitoshi
Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai Wabun Rombunshi (Internet), 21(4), p.173 - 182, 2022/09
Risk information obtained from probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of measures against severe accidents in nuclear facilities. The PRA methods used for reprocessing facilities are considered immature compared to those for nuclear power plants, and to make the methods mature, reducing the uncertainty of accident scenarios becomes crucial. In this paper, we summarized the results of literature survey on the event progression of evaporation to dryness caused by boiling of high-level liquid waste (HLLW) which is a severe accident in reprocessing facilities and migration behavior of associated radioactive materials. Since one of the important characteristics of Ru is its tendency to form volatile compounds over the course of the event progression, the migration behavior of Ru is categorized into four stages based on temperature. Although no Ru has been released in the waste in the high temperature region, other volatile elements such as Cs could be released. Sufficient experimental data, however, have not been obtained yet. It is, therefore, necessary to further clarify the migration behavior of radioactive materials that predominantly depends on temperature in this region.
