Pressure Drop Experiments of Liquid Sodium Flowing in a 7-Rod Bundle

Pressure drop experiments was conducted for liquid sodium in an electrically heated 7-rod bundle. The electrically heated 7-rod bundle was placed in a hexagonal tube. In the experiment, the heat flux ranges from 0∼300 kw · m−2, mass velocity from 40∼450 kg · m−2 · s−1, system pressure from 10∼200 KPa and the average temperature of liquid sodium from 350∼650°C. The effects of the heat flux, system pressure and the average temperature of liquid sodium on the pressure drop was in-depth analyzed. A new correlation for pressure drop was developed based on the experimental data of liquid sodium in a 7-rod bundle.