Experimental Determination of Sodium Evaporation Rates

Sodium evaporation rates from Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center-NALA experiments (experiments on aerosol release from a contaminated sodium pool into an argon or a nitrogen atmosphere) are presented. Pool temperatures were varied between 700 and 1000 K at different geometrical and convective conditions. Technical scale experiments with a 531-cm² pool surface area were performed at natural convection in a 2.2-m³ heated vessel, as well as additional small scale experiments at forced convection and 38.5-cm² pool surface area. The data are compared to the sodium vapor pressure. For the data at natural convection, a best fit formula is given.