Technology Transfer Department

Application sectors

Problem to solve

Characterizing the performances of prototypical instruments and components.

Description

HeFUS3 is an experimental helium facility, built in the late 1990s, and has been used to simulate accidental transients for fourth-generation helium-cooled fast reactors, to contribute to the validation of the RELAP5-3D system code, and to measure leaks from flanged connections. The facility has an "eight" configuration, with an economizer dividing the low-temperature section, where the turbo-circulator is installed, from the high-temperature section, which houses the test section. The facility, constructed in 1997 and partially modified over the years, consists of 3" piping and five main components: a turbo-circulator capable of providing a maximum flow rate of 1.4 kg/s, a 1 MW helium-water heat exchanger, a 300-kW air heater, 3 electrical heaters with a total power of 210 kW, and a shell-and-tube economizer. Additionally, the facility includes 7 valves, 8 pressure transducers, 2 flow meters, and over 30 thermocouples. The facility, with a volume of 1.5 m³, can reach temperatures of up to 550°C in the test section area and pressures of up to 80 bar.

Research group involved