Temperature Jump Measurement at Stainless Steel and Helium Interface: Application to Used Nuclear Fuel Vacuum Drying Process

Abstract

Vacuum drying of nuclear fuel canisters may cause the temperature of fuel assemblies to considerably increase due to the effect of gas rarefaction at low pressures. This effect may induce a temperature-jump at the gas-solid interfaces. It is important to predict the temperature-jump at these interfaces to accurately estimate the maximum temperature of the fuel assemblies during vacuum drying. The objective of this work is to setup a concentric cylinders experimental apparatus that can acquire data to benchmark rarefied gas heat transfer simulations, and determine the temperature-jump coefficient at the interface between stainless steel surface and helium gas. The temperature-jump is determined by measuring the temperature difference and heat flux across a 2-mm gap between the concentric cylinders that contains rarefied helium and compare the results to analytical calculations in the slip rarefaction regime.