COSMOS-H

Criticalheat flux On Smoothand MOdified Surfaces- Highpressure loop

The experimental facility for thermohydraulics COSMOS-H is used to investigate boiling phenomena and complex flow phenomena which potentially occur in power plants. It is used as part of reactor safety research within the NUSAFE program by the 'Multiphase Flows' group at the Institute of Thermal Energy Technology and Safety (ITES). Research projects are currently focusing on the physics of heat transfer under high-pressure conditions, such as flow boiling, up to the critical heat flux. The boiling crisis can be achieved and investigated under prototypical thermodynamic conditions with pressures of up to 170 bar and temperatures of up to 360°C. A heating power of almost 2 MW is available for heating and vaporizing the working medium water.

^{CAD model of the high-pressure system View from the north}

^{Operating parameters of the system}

In addition, COSMOS-H enables the investigation of scientific questions on the basic understanding of heat transfer as well as material and component testing, which are of interest in the field of power plant technology and process engineering. COSMOS-H's state-of-the-art measurement and control technology allows the test section heater to be switched off rapidly when the boiling crisis occurs as a "dryout" or "departure from nucleate boiling", so preventing damage to the heater during the experiment. The special quality of the experimental results is due to the unique combination of the high degree of instrumentation of the system and test section at high pressures and temperatures. Please do not hesitate to contact us!

^{View of the assembly area for the test section at the lower left and the safety housing for the entire system over three floors.}

^{View of the first floor of the plant. The steam generator on the left, the high-pressure vessel on the right.}

^{View of the system's modular test track. It shows the test arrangement without thermal insulation during the test assembly. The power supply enables the test arrangement to be heated with up to 600 kW.}