重力注水流动不稳定现象关键影响因素实验研究（英文）

重力注水过程由于流量较小,可能导致流动不稳定现象等问题,对核反应堆安全性有着重要的影响。因此,基于由高位水箱、实验本体、出入口阻力调节阀和冷却水箱组成的实验装置开展了实验,研究了实验本体入口形阻、加热功率、系统压力和冷却水过冷度对流动不稳定现象的影响。研究结果表明,根据冷却水注入流量的变化,重力注水流动不稳定现象可以分为3个阶段:冷却水初次注入阶段、冷却水逐出阶段和冷却水再注入阶段。在一定的加热棒初始温度、实验本体出口形阻和高位水箱液位的情况下,增大实验本体入口形阻减小了流动不稳定现象的发生次数和持续时间,同时也降低了冷却水注入流量,并最终导致一段时间内冷却水注入出现了停滞。增大加热功率加快了冷却水的沸腾,缩短了单相流动的时间,降低了系统的稳定性。提高系统压力减小了冷却水和蒸汽的密度差,提高了冷却水的吸热能力,抑制了冷却水的沸腾,提高了系统的稳定性。增大冷却水过冷度提高了冷却水的吸热能力,降低了空泡系数,延长了压力震荡的周期,提高了系统的稳定性。相关结果可以为核反应堆非能动安全系统的评估提供参考。     

重力注水下再淹没棒束通道数值模拟研究

基于棒束通道注水再淹没系统,提出重力注水方案,运用RELAP5/MOD3.2建立其再淹没模型,模拟从棒束底部依靠重力注水再淹没高温棒束通道时的骤冷现象。模拟结果显示:再淹没的过程中出现持续的流动振荡,冷却水周期性地注入、逐出,振荡过程可分为初始阶段的剧烈振荡和后续阶段的平稳振荡,在此期间的注入流量,棒束通道汽空间压力,壁面温度和传热系数都出现相应的周期性变化;同时进一步模拟分析了注入水入口尺寸、初始包壳温度、蒸汽出口尺寸三个因素对振荡的影响机制,发现其振荡周期和振荡幅度随注入口的增大,初始包壳温度的升高、蒸汽出口尺寸的减小而增大。     

基于RELAP5的LOCA喷放阶段下降段内CCFL特性研究

反应堆失水事故（LOCA）后下降段通道内形成的两相逆流状态极有可能引发汽-液逆向流动限制（CCFL）,不利于应急冷却水顺利进入堆芯,极大影响了核反应堆系统的安全性能。本研究基于RELAP5程序采用Wallis溢流关系式对UPFT实验装置进行建模并计算LOCA喷放阶段的下降段注水行为;通过对比下腔室蓄水量、下降段内压力及破口处蒸汽流量瞬态变化以验证模型的有效性,并对下降段通道内汽相速度场、液相体积分数分布特性进行分析。结果表明,由于下降段通道结构的三维特征引起的流动不均匀性影响了汽-液CCFL特性,随着蒸汽流量增大,在破口环路与下降段连接区域的压力梯度与向上流速度梯度越大,较少节点的划分方法很难真实反映下降段通道局部区域内汽-液溢流关系;在靠近破口的环路内注入的冷却水更难到达下腔室,而在远离破口环路的冷却水容易进入到下腔室;过热的蒸汽在流动过程中被冷却水冷却发生凝结现象,导致出口蒸汽流量小于进口蒸汽流量,且随着进口蒸汽流量的增大,凝结效应则随之减小。本研究所建立的模型与方法能够适用于LOCA喷放阶段下降段通道内的汽-液CCFL预测。      

竖直管道内间歇式两相流动沸腾特性分析

自然循环或重力注水过程的热功率、冷却剂流量等操作条件较小,易出现各种流动不稳定现象,影响核反应堆事故的发展进程,间歇式流动沸腾现象就属于其中的一种。以去离子水为工质,采用2×2加热棒束,对内径为32 mm竖直通道内的间歇式流动沸腾现象进行了实验研究,分析了不同热流密度下间歇式流动沸腾不稳定现象的变化规律,讨论了热流密度对间歇式沸腾周期的影响。结果表明,在一定的热流密度条件下,当加热通道内流体达到饱和并过热时,会发生周期性地剧烈喷涌及冷液回流现象,期间伴随泡状流、弹状流、搅混流及环状流等多种流动形态;间歇喷涌周期取决于沸腾停滞时间,随热流密度的不断增大,沸腾停滞时间缩短,间歇喷涌周期也缩短。当热流密度增大到一定程度时,间歇式流动沸腾现象消失,从而转变为另一种两相流动不稳定现象。     

T型管直接接触冷凝特性实验研究

在反应堆发生LOCA时,一回路系统压力降低,产生大量的蒸汽,安注水注入冷腿后可能会发生冷凝现象。为研究冷凝现象,通过开展T型管冷凝实验,在主管通纯蒸汽、支管通过冷水的情况下,研究了不同蒸汽流量和不同安注水流量下的冷凝量。结果表明:冷凝量存在一定的限制,即主管内蒸汽无法全部被冷凝。基于实验结果提出了一个冷凝效率与热力学比系数R_T之间的模型。     

百万千瓦级压水堆严重事故后再注水的有效性评价

根据现有的设计资料,使用一体化严重事故分析程序MELCOR1.8.6建立了核电厂一、二回路系统,非能动堆芯冷却系统和安全壳系统的模型,并模拟冷段2英寸(5.08cm)小破口叠加重力注入失效的严重事故发生后,将冷却剂注入堆芯的情形,分析其对严重事故进程的缓解能力。本文选取3个严重事故的不同阶段,将冷却剂分别以小流量(10kg/s)、中流量(50kg/s)和大流量(200kg/s)的速率注入堆芯,通过比较氢气产生量、堆芯放射性产生量及堆芯温度等数据来评估在严重事故不同阶段再注水的可行性。结果表明:在堆芯损伤初期,可认为10kg/s以上的流量足以冷却百万千瓦级事故安全。而当严重事故发展到堆芯开始坍塌阶段,200kg/s的注水流量可认为是基本可行的,而小于此流量的注水应慎重考虑。     

基于RELAP5的ERVC两相自然循环能力研究

利用RELAP5程序建立压力容器外部冷却（ERVC）系统模型,在水淹平衡条件下分析不同的安全壳内压力、冷却水过冷度、加热功率和水淹水位对系统两相自然流动能力的影响,找到各工况下的临界过冷度和不稳定性边界。结果表明：AP1000的ERVC系统设计具有很大裕量,仅依靠自然循环就可通过下封头对熔池进行有效冷却;安全壳内压力越高、冷却水过冷度越低、加热功率越大、水淹水位越高,两相自然循环流量越高。但当加热功率水平较低时,压力对临界过冷度影响不大;冷却水过冷度低于临界值时,会发生剧烈的倒流和流量震荡现象;当水淹水位低于5.5 m时,不能建立稳定的两相自然循环流动。     

压力容器外部冷却系统冷却水池温度场的实验研究及分析

压力容器外部非能动冷却系统采用换料水池作为冷却水源。在浮升力驱动的自然循环流动作用下,冷却水池内会逐渐出现热分层现象。本实验基于先进压水堆压力容器外部冷却系统模拟装置REPEC实验回路,通过测量实验系统内冷却水箱的温度场空间分布,对冷却水池的热分层与混合现象、发展规律和主要影响因素进行了实验分析。结果表明：实验水箱内温度场分布差异主要表现在高度方向;循环流量是影响热分层的重要参数,而水箱工质初始温度的影响非常微弱;针对本实验的无量纲一维瞬态温度场方程分析表明,水箱内温度场的发展规律主要受对流传热控制。     

超临界水在垂直管内换热及流动不稳定性研究

清华大学核能与新能源技术研究院在建的250 MWt高温气冷堆核电站示范工程(HTR-PM)中蒸汽发生器二回路为亚临界水,由于反应堆能提供750℃的高温氦气,二回路水可提高到超临界压力和温度,采用多堆带一机方案可与超临界蒸汽透平机组匹配,因此研究超临界水在管内的流动、传热以及流动不稳定现象非常重要。本文通过使用RNGk-ε模型耦合强化壁面函数,发现模拟结果与Yamagata等的实验数据符合较好。基于此模型,分析了超临界流体流动时换热系数的变化规律,并采用瞬态计算方法,线性增大加热功率,分析了流动不稳定现象,发现流体一旦进入不稳定区,进出口流量的波动非常严重,甚至出现倒流,应尽可能避免此类现象。     

基于RELAP5的高温棒束通道再淹没数值模拟研究

基于ABB Atom 3×3棒束再淹没实验,运用RELAP5建立其实验装置的定流量再淹没计算模型,通过与实验结果做比对验证模拟的有效性,研究在高、低两种注水流量下从底部再淹没高温棒束通道时的不同骤冷现象,分析期间的流动形态、传热特性,液位进程,先驱冷却效果差异等。模拟结果表明:低流量下主液位落后于骤冷前沿,高流量下骤冷前沿明显落后于主液位;通过对比发现在高流量下的高液位为高温壁面带来更强的先驱冷却,使壁面温度更快的降到再湿温度,而低流量下几乎匀速上升的液位变化进程对前沿下游的高温壁面冷却较慢,需要更长的时间才能降到再湿温度。这些分析将为研究此模型下的重力注水打下坚实的基础。     

Restrictive Effect of Ascending Steam on Falling Water during Top Spray Emergency Core Cooling

Water spraying experiments were conducted to find out a flow rate of falling water overcoming ascending steam during top spray emergency cooling with an 8×8 type simulated fuel rod bundle of real size. The bundle consisted of 64 rods, each with a diameter of 12.5 mm, arranged in the form of square lattice with a pitch of 16.3 mm. In the experiments the simulated fuel rods were not heated. Instead, steam was injected into the lower plenum vessel simulating bundle-generated steam. As the results, (1) a criterion was proposed to determine the region where the restrictive effect of ascending steam on falling water appears, considering the decrease of a flow rate of ascending steam due to condensation by a spray of subcooled water, (2) the restrictive effect was independent of water head on the upper tie plate and water injection methods, and (3) an analytical model based on the pressure balance at the upper tie plate was proposed to calculate a flow rate of falling water overcoming ascending steam.     

Experimental observation of the droplet size change across a wet grid spacer in a 6 × 6 rod bundle

During the reflood phase of a postulated loss of coolant accident in a nuclear reactor, entrainment of liquid droplets can occur at a quench front of reflooding water. It is widely recognized that the behavior of the entrained droplets crucially affects the reflood heat transfer phenomena by decreasing the superheated steam temperature and interacting with a rod bundle and spacer grids. For this reason, various experimental and numerical studies have been performed to examine droplet behavior such as the droplet size, velocity and droplet fraction inside a rod array. In this study, an experiment on the droplet behavior inside a heated rod bundle has been performed. The experiment was focused on the change of droplet size induced by a spacer grid in a rod bundle geometry, which results in the change of the interfacial heat transfer between droplets and superheated steam. A 6 × 6 rod bundle test facility in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute was used for the experiment. Steam was supplied by an external boiler into the bottom of the test channel, and a droplet injection nozzle was equipped instead of simulating a quench front of reflooding water. The major measuring parameters of the experiment were the droplet size and velocity, which were measured by a high-speed camera and a digital image processing technique. A series of experiments were conducted with various flow conditions of a steam injection velocity, heater temperature, droplet size, and droplet flow rate. The experiments provided the data on the change of the Sauter mean diameter of droplets after collision with a wet grid spacer depending on flow conditions.     

A study of the unsteady flow and heat transfer in the reflooding of water reactor cores

In the event of a loss-of-coolant accident in a water-cooled reactor, the primary consideration is terminating the clad temperature excursion caused by release of the stored and decay heat in the fuel. This requires that emergency coolant injection systems reflood the reactor core.For certain break positions, the pressure loss incurred by venting steam partially offsets the hydrostatic head available to drive flow through the core. Flow oscillations can also be set up due to the fluid inertia and vapour compressibility.The present paper reports the results of an extensive series of experiments performed on unstable reflooding, covering wall temperatures up to 1000°C and reflooding rates typical of reactor values. Measurements are reported of quenching rates, oscillation frequencies and pre-quench heat transfer.It is shown, except for a short initial period of violent oscillations, that the rewetting rate and pre-quench heat transfer, for a given mass flow rate, are relatively unaffected by the presence of oscillations. The average pre-quench heat transfer coefficient is shown to vary as (water mass flow rate)ⁿ where n = 0.5–0.7, consistent with available world data.Theory and experiments also show that there is a critical value of outlet loss coefficient, for a given power level, where no further advance of the quench front can occur, the back pressure completely offsetting the available driving head for core reflooding. This value is much greater than the outlet loss coefficient for typical reactor designs, thus ensuring core reflooding. The critical loss coefficient is suggested as the relevant parameter for scaling purposes.A new theoretical model for the oscillations is derived which is shown to predict the oscillation frequencies of all available data. It is also shown that the frequency and damping are only weakly dependent on: upper plenum flow area, size of vapour space, effective inertia of water oscillating and pressure, and are independent of the outlet loss coefficient.     

针对REPEC加热实验的RELAP5程序模拟与分析

为研究压力容器外部流道的冷却能力及流动传热过程,在反应堆压力容器外部冷却(REPEC, Reactor Pressure vessel External Cooling)实验台架前期加热实验的基础上,采用RELAP5程序对实验工况进行模拟和对比。模拟结果与实验数据一致性较好。随加热热流、进出口面积的增加,系统内自然循环流量也增加;入口欠热度对自然循环流量的影响不是很明显;近饱和沸腾条件下,系统出现明显的两相不稳定流动。     

Safety of Super LWR, (I) Safety System Design

This paper describes design concept of safety system of the high-temperature supercritical pressure light water cooled reactor with downward-flow water rods (Super LWR). Since this reactor is once-through cooling system without water level and coolant circulation, the fundamental safety requirement is keeping core coolant flow rate while that of light water reactors (LWR) is keeping coolant inventory. “Coolant supply from cold-leg” and “coolant outlet at hot-leg” are needed for it. The advantage of the once-through cooling system is that reactor depressurization induces core coolant flow and cools the core. The downward-flow water rod system enhances this effect because the top dome and the water rods supply its water inventory to the core like an “in-vessel accumulator.” The safety system of the Super LWR is designed referring to those of LWR in consideration of its characteristics and safety principle. “Coolant supply” is kept by high-pressure auxiliary feedwater system and low-pressure core injection system. “Coolant outlet” is kept by safety relief valves and automatic depressurization system. The Super LWR is equipped with two independent shutdown systems: reactor scram system and standby liquid control system. The capacities and the actuation conditions determined in this study are to be used in safety analysis.     

Two-phase natural circulation flow of air and water in a reactor cavity model under an external vessel cooling during a severe accident

As a part of a study on a two-phase natural circulation flow between the outer reactor vessel and the insulation material in the reactor cavity under an external reactor vessel cooling of the Advanced Power Reactor (APR) 1400, a Hydraulic Evaluation of Reactor cooling Mechanism by External Self-induced flow-HALF scale (HERMES-HALF) experiment has been performed by using the non-heating method of an air injection. This large-scale experiment uses a half-height and half-sector model of the APR1400. This experiment has been analyzed to verify and evaluate the experimental results by using the RELAP5/MOD3 computer code. The RELAP5/MOD3 results have shown that the water circulation mass flow rate is very similar to the experimental results of the HERMES-HALF, in general. Increases in the water inlet area and the water level in the reactor cavity lead to an increase in the water circulation mass flow rate. The effects of an air injection mass flow rate and the water outlet area on the water circulation mass flow rate are dependent on the water inlet area size. As the water outlet moves to a lower position, the water circulation mass flow rate increases slowly.     

Cooling mechanism during transient reflooding of a reactor fuel bundle after loss of coolant

Cooling efficiency during transient reflooding under loss of normal coolant conditions has been examined with a 7 × 7 simulated fuel rod bundle and jet pump bypass. The bundle contains 49 electrically heated rods with 3600 mm heated length and a pseudo cosine axial power distribution. Water is injected into the lower plenum and the superheated bundle is reflooded from the bottom with some flow diverted to the simulated jet pump bypass. The results show that effective cooling can be maintained.     

Detailed Evaluation of the Natural Circulation Mass Flow Rate of Water Propelled by Using an Air Injection

One-dimensional (1D) air-water two-phase natural circulation flow in the “thermohydraulic evaluation of reactor cooling mechanism by external self-induced flow—one-dimensional” (THERMES-1D) experiment has been verified and evaluated by using the RELAP5/MOD3 computer code. Experimental results on the 1D natural circulation mass flow rate of water propelled by using an air injection have been evaluated in detail. The RELAP5 results have shown that an increase in the air injection rate to 50% of the total heat flux leads to an increase in the water circulation mass flow rate. However, an increase in the air injection rate from 50 to 100% does not affect the water circulation mass flow rate, because of the inlet area condition. As the height increases in the air injection part, the void fraction increases. However, the void fraction in the upper part of the air injector maintains a constant value. An increase in the air injection mass flow rate leads to an increase in the local void fraction, but it has no influence on the local pressure. An increase in the coolant inlet area leads to an increase in the water circulation mass flow rate. However, the water outlet area does not have an influence on the water circulation mass flow rate. As the coolant outlet moves to a lower position, the water circulation mass flow rate decreases.     

A method of predicting the temperature response of ballooning fuel rod cladding for PWR LOCA conditions

A method is described for calculating fuel rod cladding temperatures in a blockage formed by a group of ballooned fuel rods in a larger rod array, for heat transfer conditions appropriate to the reflooding phase of a postulated PWR LOCA. The model is suitable for describing the extreme case of co-planar axially extended balloons, where steam superheating and skin friction effects are believed to have an important effect on blockage heat removal. Attention is restricted to the constricted zone within the blockage.Reasonable agreement is shown with available heat transfer data from partially ballooned rod arrays, for conditions of steam cooling, steam-and-droplet cooling and reflood cooling. The model is also able to describe flow velocity distribution data from partially blocked rod bundles with reasonable accuracy.Parametric calculations for typical PWR LOCA heat transfer conditions suggest that blockage length has a strong effect on fuel coolability, mainly as a result of extra superheating of the steam within the blockage. However calculations also indicate that the presence of entrained water droplets has a powerful effect in reducing the clad temperatures attained.