Effect of spray on performance of the hydrogen mitigation system during LB-LOCA for CPR1000 NPP

During the course of the hypothetical large break loss-of-coolant accident (LB-LOCA) in a nuclear power plant (NPP), hydrogen is generated by a reaction between steam and the fuel-cladding inside the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). It is then ejected from the break into the containment along with a large amount of steam. Management of hydrogen safety and prevention of over-pressurization could be implemented through a hydrogen mitigation system (HMS) and spray system in CPR1000 NPP. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code GASFLOW is utilized in this study to analyze the spray effect on the performance of HMS during LB-LOCA. Results show that as a kind of HMS, deliberate igniter system (DIS) could initiate hydrogen combustion immediately after the flammability limit of the gas mixture has been reached. However, it will increase the temperature and pressure drastically. Operating the DIS under spray condition could result in hydrogen combustion being suppressed by suspended droplets inside the containment. Furthermore, the droplets could also mitigate local the temperature rise. Operation of a PAR system, another kind of HMS, consumes hydrogen steadily with a lower recombination rate which is not affected noticeably by the spray system. Numerical results indicate that the dual concept, namely the integrated application of DIS and PAR systems, is a constructive improvement for hydrogen safety under spray condition during LB-LOCA.     

先进压水堆核电站氢气风险分析

核电厂在严重事故期间会产生大量氢气并释放到安全壳内,威胁安全壳的完整性。应用氢气风险分析程序GASFLOW对先进压水堆核电站在大破口失水事故叠加应急堆芯冷却系统失效导致的严重事故期间的氢气行为及风险进行分析。结果表明,当气体释放源位于蒸汽发生器隔间时,氢气流动的主要路径为"蒸汽发生器隔间—穹顶空间—操作平台以下隔间";破口隔间的氢气体积浓度分布与源项氢气体积浓度及射流形态有关,非破口区域的氢气体积浓度呈层状分布,在扩散作用下,层状分布向下推移;蒸汽发生器隔间存在着火焰加速(FA)的可能性,但基本可排除燃爆转变(DDT)的可能性,穹顶区域基本可排除FA和DDT的可能性。     

先进压水堆核电厂氢气控制策略分析研究

新建核电厂的设计必须做到“实际消除”早期与大量放射性释放的可能性,氢气燃爆导致的安全壳失效是必须要“实际消除”的严重事故工况之一。因此对各种消氢措施的特点进行分析研究,建立联合消氢策略评价方法,可为先进压水堆核电厂氢气控制策略选择设计评价提供支持手段。根据严重事故管理中对氢气控制策略的考虑,研究安全壳内局部位置的可燃性是相关设计评价的关键问题。根据可燃性准则、火焰加速准则、燃爆转变准则,本文使用三维CFD程序对典型严重事故工况下安全壳蒸汽发生器隔间内的可燃性及氢气风险进行模拟分析。研究结果表明,虽然喷放源项中有大量水蒸气,蒸汽发生器隔间中仍有较大区域处于可燃限值以内,合理布置的点火器能在设计中点燃并消除氢气。本研究建立的分析方法能用于对核电厂氢气控制策略选择设计的评价。     

Three-dimensional behaviors of the hydrogen and steam in the APR1400 containment during a hypothetical loss of feed water accident

During a hypothetical severe accident in a nuclear power plant (NPP), hydrogen is generated by an active reaction of the fuel-cladding and the steam in the reactor pressure vessel and released with the steam into the containment. In order to mitigate hydrogen hazards which could possibly occur in the NPP containment, a hydrogen mitigation system (HMS) is usually adopted. The design of the next generation NPP (APR1400) developed in Korea specifies that 26 passive autocatalytic recombiners and 10 igniters should be installed in the containment for a hydrogen mitigation. In this study, an analysis of the hydrogen and steam behavior during a total loss of feed water (LOFW) accident in the APR1400 containment has been conducted by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code GASFLOW. During the accident, a huge amount of hot water, steam, and hydrogen is released into the in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST). The current design of the APR1400 includes flap-type openings at the IRWST vents which operate depending on the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the IRWST. It was found from this study that the flaps strongly affect the flow structure of the steam and hydrogen in the containment. The possibilities of a flame acceleration and a transition from deflagration to detonation (DDT) were evaluated by using the Sigma–Lambda criteria. Numerical results indicate that the DDT possibility was heavily reduced in the IRWST compartment by the effects of the flaps during the LOFW accident.     

Improvements to hydrogen depleting and monitoring system for Chinese Pressurized Reactor 1000

We evaluate the hydrogen depletion ability of the hydrogen depletion system for Chinese Pressurized Reactor 1000 (CPR1000),which has been applied in nuclear power plants with pressurized water reactors;moreover,we introduce a new device that can continuously monitor hydrogen concentration inside the CPR1000 containment building.Experimental studies show that a moveable hydrogen autocatalytic recombiner alone can sufficiently deplete hydrogen under the condition of a design-basis accident,and 33 passive autocatalytic recombiners placed in the areas of high hydrogen concentration satisfy the hydrogen depletion requirements under the condition of a beyond-design-basis accident.Meanwhile,the hydrogen concentration monitoring system is designed and installed based on the approach of detecting the temperature increase caused by the catalytic reaction of hydrogen.In conclusion,the hydrogen depletion capacity of the CPR1000 meets the requirements,and the system's safety can be enhanced by the improved hydrogen concentration monitoring system.     

基于火焰加速和燃爆转变准则的氢气点火安全性研究

采用点火器对可燃混合气体进行预先点火是严重事故下的1种可供选择的氢气缓解措施。基于σ准则和λ准则可以评估氢气燃烧时发生火焰加速(FA)和爆燃向爆炸的转变(DDT)的可能性。本文分析密闭房间中氢气早期和晚期点火的过程。分析结果表明，点火器在空间的合理布置和初次点火时间的控制，可有效移除事故前期的氢气。本方法能用于确定核电站干式安全壳内氢气点火器的数量、位置和点火时间。     

Studies on innovative hydrogen recombiners as safety devices in the containments of light water reactors

In order to prevent the containment and other safety relevant components from incurring serious damage caused by a detonation of the hydrogen/air-mixture generated during a severe accident in light water reactors (LWR) passive autocatalytic recombiners (PAR) are used for hydrogen removal in an increasing number of European plants. These devices make use of the fact that hydrogen and oxygen react exothermally on catalytic surfaces generating steam and heat.

Experimental investigations at several research facilities indicate that existing PAR systems bear the risk of igniting the gaseous mixture due to an overheating of the catalyst elements caused by strong reaction heat generation. Innovative devices could overcome existing limitations making use of the knowledge deduced from experiments performed at the REKO facilities at Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ).

The paper analyses the mechanisms of the thermal behaviour of catalytic plate-type recombiners and presents experimental results on existing and innovative devices for hydrogen removal introducing the modular recombiner concept.     

Analysis on hydrogen risk mitigation in severe accidents for Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor

Hydrogen source term and hydrogen mitigation under severe accidents is evaluated for most nuclear power plants (NPPs) after Fukushima Daiichi accident. Two units of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) are under operating in China, and hydrogen risk control should be evaluated in detail for the existing design. The distinguish feature of PHWR, compared with PWR, is the horizontal reactor core surrounded by moderator in calandria vessel (CV), which may influence the hydrogen source term. Based on integral system analysis code of PHWR, the plant model including primary heat transfer system (PHTS), calandria, end shield system, reactor cavity and containment has been developed. Two severe accident sequences have been selected to study hydrogen generation characteristic and the effectiveness of hydrogen mitigation with igniters. The one is Station Blackout (SBO) which represents high-pressure core melt accident, and the other is Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LLOCA) at reactor outlet header (ROH) which represents low-pressure core melt accident. Results show that under severe accident sequences, core oxidation of zirconium–steam reaction will produce hydrogen with deterioration of core cooling and the water in CV and reactor cavity can inhibits hydrogen generation for a relatively long time. However, as the water dries out, creep failure happens on CV. As a result, molten core falls into cavity and molten core concrete interaction (MCCI) occurs, releasing a large mass of hydrogen. When hydrogen igniters fail, volume fraction of hydrogen in the containment is more than 15% while equivalent amount of hydrogen generate from a 100% fuel clad-coolant reaction. As a result, hydrogen risk lies in the deflagration–detonation transition area. When igniters start at the beginning of large hydrogen generation, hydrogen mixtures ignite at low concentration in the compartments and the combustion mode locates at the edge of flammable area. However, the power supply to igniters should be ensured.     

Simulation of hydrogen deflagration and detonation in a BWR reactor building

A systematic study was carried out to investigate the hydrogen behaviour in a BWR reactor building during a severe accident. BWR core contains a large amount of Zircaloy and the containment is relatively small. Because containment leakage cannot be totally excluded, hydrogen can build up in the reactor building, where the atmosphere is normal air. The objective of the work was to investigate, whether hydrogen can form flammable and detonable mixtures in the reactor building, evaluate the possibility of onset of detonation and assess the pressure loads under detonation conditions. The safety concern is, whether the hydrogen in the reactor building can detonate and whether the external detonation can jeopardize the containment integrity. The analysis indicated that the possibility of flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in the reactor building could not be ruled out in case of a 20 mm² leakage from the containment. The detonation analyses indicated that maximum pressure spike of about 7 MPa was observed in the reactor building room selected for the analysis.     

AP1000核电厂氢气点火器功能分析

采用集总参数分析程序对AP1000核电厂安全壳内氢气点火系统功能进行了分析和验证。在定义的包络事故工况下,氢气最大瞬时释放速率达300kg/min。计算表明：在无点火措施情况下,AP1000安全壳局部隔间的氢气浓度较高,隔间内的气体处于可燃状态,且接近爆燃向爆炸转变（DDT）状态;在实施点火措施情况下,氢气浓度得到有效控制,氢气点火系统能消除严重事故下氢气所引起的风险。     

A study on evaluating a passive autocatalytic recombiner PAR-system in the PWR large-dry containment

A systematic step-by-step framework for analyzing hydrogen behavior and implementing passive autocatalytic recombiners (PARs) to mitigate hydrogen deflagration or detonation risk in severe accidents (SAs) is presented. The procedure can be subdivided into five main steps: (1) modeling the containment based on the plant design characteristics, (2) selecting the typical severe accident sequences, (3) calculating the hydrogen generation including in- and ex-vessel period, (4) modeling the gas distribution in containment atmosphere and estimating the hydrogen combustion modes and (5) evaluating the efficiency of the PAR-system to mitigate the hydrogen risk with and without catalytic recombiners, according to the safety criterion. For the Chinese 600MWe pressurized water reactor (PWR) with a large-dry containment, large break loss-of-coolant accident (LB-LOCA) is screened out as the reference severe accident sequence, considering the nature of hydrogen generation and the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) result on accident sequences. The results show that a certain number of recombiners could remove effectively hydrogen and oxygen, to protect the containment integrity against hydrogen deflagration or detonation.     

Severe accident analysis for a typical PWR using the MELCOR code

Using the MELCOR code, we simulated and analyzed a severe accident at a Chinese pressurized reactor 1000-MW (CPR1000) power plant caused by station blackout (SBO) with failure of the steam generator (SG) safety relief valve (SRV). The CPR1000 response and results for three different scenarios were analyzed: (i) seal leakage and an auxiliary feed water (AFW) supply; (ii) no seal leakage or AFW supply; and (iii) seal leakage but no AFW supply. The results for the three scenarios are compared with those for a simple SBO accident. According to our calculations, the SG SRV stuck in the open position would greatly accelerate the sequence for a severe accident. For an SBO accident with the SRV stuck open without seal leakage or an AFW supply, the pressure vessel would fail at 9576 s and the containment system would fail at 124,000 s. If AFW is supplied, pressure vessel failure would be delayed nearly 30000 s and containment failure would delay at least 50000 s. When seal leakage exists, pressure vessel failure is delayed about 50 s and containment failure time would delay about 30000 s. The results will be useful in gaining an insight into the detailed processes involved and establishing management guidelines for a CPR1000 severe accident.     

GOTHIC局部氢气风险三维分析研究

目前的氢气风险分析中,主要采用一体化严重事故分析程序进行分析计算。日本福岛事故后,对氢气风险分析提出了更高的要求。为了实现对集总参数程序的有益补充,本文开展了GOTHIC程序氢气风险三维分析的研究。利用GOTHIC建立了局部氢气风险三维分析模型,在模型验证的基础之上,对典型严重事故序列下的氢气风险进行三维分析研究。研究表明:安全壳上部空间气流混合较好,氢气分层并不是非常明显;对于核电厂压力容器直接注射(DVI)管道破口所在的非能动堆芯冷却系统隔间B(PXS-B),由于破口以下部分区域被水淹没,破口以上区域的氢气浓度较高,但氢气风险较小。     

核电厂严重事故情况下氢气控制分析

文章首先阐述了核电厂严重事故情况下安全壳内的氢气风险,研究现状,以及缓解、控制氢气风险的具体措施.在此基础上,介绍了田湾核电站严重事故情况下氢气控制的系统和方法,调试结果及历次大修对氢气控制系统的检查结果,表明该方法具备严重事故预防和缓解能力,安全风险处于受控状态,安全是有保障的,符合国家核安全局针对福岛核事故后对核电厂改进行动的通用技术要求.     

GOTHIC局部氢气风险三维分析研究

Integrated severe accident code is used to analyze the hydrogen risk in current safety assessment. After Fukushima accident, higher requirements are placed on hydrogen risk analysis. In order to supplement the lumped parameter analysis, three dimension hydrogen risk analysis method using GOTHIC is studied. Local three dimension hydrogen risk model is constructed by GOTHIC. Based on model validation, typical severe accident cases are chosen to analyze the hydrogen distribution. The results show that, hydrogen and other gas are mixed well in the upper compartment of the containment, and hydrogen stratification phenomenon is not obvious. For DVI rupture accident in PXS-B, the lower area of the break is flooded, and the hydrogen concentration for the upper area of the break is large, however, the hydrogen risk is little.     

AP1000安全壳外环廊氢气风险分析

本文采用MAAP程序对AP1000核电厂的环廊区域进行建模,计算严重事故下的氢气浓度,以合理评估壳外氢气爆炸风险。分析结果表明：AP1000核电厂所设置的氢气点火器和氢气复合器能很好地控制环廊氢气浓度,防止壳外氢气风险的发生。只有在氢气点火器和氢气复合器均不可用,且产氢量很大的极限工况下,才可能在环廊区域内出现较高的氢气浓度,威胁安全壳的完整性。     

大型干式安全壳消氢系统的初步设计

以岭澳核电站为分析对象,利用MELCOR和TONUS(CEA)程序进行分析计算,给出了初步的消氢系统设计方案,对不同核电站的消氢系统设计方案进行了对比和讨论.结果表明:安全壳内安装33个FR750型或者17个左右的FR1500型氢气复合器可以满足氢气控制要求.     

M310核电厂严重事故下稳压器隔间氢气风险分析

基于GASFLOW程序,选取对M310核电厂稳压器隔间内氢气风险极为不利的两种事故工况,对安全壳内氢气风险进行了分析计算。模拟结果显示:在所研究的工况条件下,卸压箱隔间、波动管隔间、稳压器隔间及穹顶区域内,只有波动管双端断裂事故在早期氢气集中释放阶段,出现了稳压器隔间内FA准则数大于1的情况,其他隔间及其他工况下所有隔间内的FA准则数和DDT准则数均不会超过1。即,所研究隔间内均可以排除燃爆转变风险。破口隔间内部氢气浓度分布主要受源项氢气浓度以及混合气体夹带作用的影响,不同位置的氢气浓度变化存在显著差别。安全壳大空间的氢气浓度呈层状结构,随着时间推移,层状结构向下推移,安全壳大空间氢气浓度分布呈均匀化趋势发展。     

Structural response of a nuclear power plant steel containment under H2 detonation

At present studies are in progress at ENEA-DISP to assess the performance of a steel containment under hydrogen detonation.In this framework a number of topics needs to be investigated and they are considered in the present paper. To get a better understanding of the containment wall behaviour under a detonation a simple but complete model is analysed in order to study the fluid-structure interaction during the explosion. The structure is represented by a single degree of freedom (SDOF) elastic-plastic system. This system is coupled to a monodimensional model of the containment atmosphere excited by hydrogen bursting. The atmosphere modeling allows to represent the shock propagation and the reflected wave effects. In the model a cylindrical geometry is used as reference. The obtained results are compared with data adopted in Italy to assess the structural integrity of the Alto Lazio NPP steel containment in the case of a severe accident.The limits of the model as well as the possible extensions are discussed in the paper together with a possible application in an experimental program directed to the assessment of failure criteria under severe accident conditions.     

严重事故下氢气风险及氢气控制系统的初步分析

采用一体化严重事故分析工具,对600MWe压水堆核电厂严重事故下氢气风险及拟定的氢气控制系统进行分析。结果表明：相对于小破口失水始发事故和全厂断电始发事故工况,大破口失水始发严重事故堆芯快速熔化,在考虑100%锆 水反应产氢量的条件下,大破口失水始发事故氢气风险较大,有可能发生氢气快速燃烧;在氢气控制系统作用下,发生大破口失水始发严重事故时,安全壳内平均氢气浓度和隔间内氢气浓度低于10%,未达到氢气快速燃烧和爆炸的条件,满足美国联邦法规10CFR中关于氢气控制和风险分析的准则,认为该氢气控制系统是可行、有效的。