The Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) is a design basis accident for light water reactors that usually determines the limits on core power. During a LOCA, film boiling is the dominant mode of heat transfer prior to the quenching of the fuel rods. The study of film boiling is important because this mode of heat transfer determines if the core can be safely cooled. One important film boiling regime is the so-called Inverted Annular Film Boiling (IAFB) regime which is characterized by a liquid core downstream of the quench front enveloped by a vapor film separating it from the fuel rod. Much research have been conducted for IAFB, but these studies have been limited to steady state experiments in single tubes.In the present work, subcooled and saturated IAFB are investigated using high temperature reflood data from the experiments carried out in the Rod Bundle Heat Transfer (RBHT) test facility. Parametric effects of system parameters including the pressure, inlet subcooling, and flooding rate on the heat transfer are investigated. The heat transfer behavior during transition to Inverted Slug Film Boiling (ISFB) regime is studied and is found to be different than that reported in previous studies. The effects of spacer grids on heat transfer in the IAFB and ISFB regimes are also presented. Currently design basis accidents are evaluated with codes in which heat transfer and wall drag must be calculated with local flow parameters. The existing models for heat transfer are applicable up to a void fraction of 0.6, i.e. in the IAFB regime and there is no heat transfer correlation for ISFB. A new semi-empirical heat transfer model is developed covering the IAFB and ISFB regimes which is valid for a void fraction up to 90% using the local flow variables. The mean absolute percentage error in predicting the RBHT data is 11% and root mean square error is 15%. This new semi-empirical model is found to compare well with the reflood data of FLECHT-SEASET experiments as well as data from single tube experiments. The root mean square error in predicting the FLECHT-SEASET data is 20% whereas for single tube data it is 12%.In previous studies, the transition criterion from the IAFB to the ISFB regime is purely empirical. In this work, a theoretical stability analysis of a liquid jet co-flowing with its vapor in a tube is carried out to seek a better understanding of the underlying physics of the regime transition. The effect of heat and mass transfer at the interface is included in the stability analysis. Also, the effect of viscous force is included in the stability analysis, by employing the viscous potential flow method. The wavelength that is responsible for breakup of the liquid core in IAFB is predicted in the present analysis and is compared with the adiabatic experiments of IAFB from the literature. The effects of various controlling parameters including the relative Weber number, vapor Reynolds number, velocity ratio, density ratio and viscosity ratio of vapor and liquid are studied to understand the physics of transition. Finally a physics-based heat transfer model is proposed for heat transfer in the ISFB regime using the wavelength obtained from the stability analysis.

Inverted-Annular Film-Boiling (IAFB) is one of the post-burnout heat transfer modes taking place during the reflooding phase of the loss-of-coolant accident, when the liquid at the quench front is subcooled. Under IAFB conditions, a continuous, liquid core is separated from the wall by a superheated vapour film. the heat transfer rate in IAFB is influenced by the flooding rate, liquid subcooling, pressure, and the wall geometry and temperature. These influences can be accounted by a two-fluid model with physically sound closure laws for mass, momentum and heat transfers between the wall, the vapour film, the vapour-liquid interface, and the liquid core. Such closure laws have been developed and adjusted using IAFB-relevant experimental results, including heat flux, wall temperature and void fraction data. The model is extensively assessed against data from three independent sources. A total of 46 experiments have been analyzed. The overall predictions are good. The IAFB-specific closure laws proposed have also intrinsic value, and may be used in other two-fluid models. They should allow to improve the description of post-dryout, low quality heat transfer by the safety codes.