The estimation of lifetime distribution of Alloy 800 steam generator tubing

Alloy 800 has been used for steam generator (SG) tubing for more than 30 years, primarily in CANDU reactors worldwide and in reactors in Germany. Extensive laboratory testing and in-service experience suggest that the Alloy 800 tubing has excellent resistance to corrosion-related degradation under appropriate operating conditions. In planning refurbishment of nuclear plants stations, a key concern is the longevity of existing SGs up to the 60-year lifetime of the refurbished plant. The paper reviews an existing methodology based on the concept of the improvement factor, and refines its estimation based on data specific to CANDU operating conditions. The paper presents a more advanced Bayesian probabilistic approach to estimate the degradation free lifetime distribution of Alloy 800 tubing, which is used to quantify the probability of degradation during the service life and to evaluate the impact of potential occurrences of degradation on reliability of SG tubing.     

Probabilistic modelling of steam generator tube pitting corrosion

Pitting corrosion is a serious form of degradation in steam generator (SG) tubing of some nuclear stations. The nature and extent of the pitting process is assessed through inspection programs, typically using various eddy current (EC) techniques, while the impact of pitting is minimized through deposit removal maintenance activities such as water lancing and chemical cleaning of SGs. This paper presents a probabilistic model of SG tube pitting corrosion that incorporates trends observed from a large EC inspection database from a nuclear generating station. The pitting occurrence process is modelled as a stochastic Poisson process and the pit size is treated as a random variable. The model is statistically calibrated with the available EC inspection data. The model is applied to estimate the probability of tube leakage, forced outage rate and the distribution of the number of tubes plugged per SG in a given operating interval. The proposed model is useful in optimizing strategies for the life-cycle management of SGs.     

Adaptive estimator-based dynamic sliding mode control for the water level of nuclear steam generators

Steam Generator (SG) is a crucial component of nuclear power plant. The proper water level control of a nuclear steam generator is of great importance in order to secure the sufficient cooling source of the nuclear reactor and to prevent damage of turbine blades. The water level control problem of steam generators has been a main cause of unexpected shutdowns of nuclear power plants which must be considered for plant safety and availability. The control problem is challenging, especially at low power levels due to shrink and swell phenomena and flow measurement errors. Moreover, the dynamics of steam generator vary as the power level changes. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the water level control system of SG. In this paper, an adaptive estimator-based dynamic sliding mode control method is developed for the level control problem. The proposed method exhibits the desired dynamic properties during the entire output tracking process independent of perturbations. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller in terms of performance, robustness and stability. Simulation results confirm the improvement in transient response obtained by using the proposed controller.     

Evaluation of the burst characteristics for axial notches on SG tubings

Some events of steam generator tubes have been reported in some nuclear power plants around the world. Main causes of the leakage are from various types of corrosion in the steam generator (SG) tubing. Primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) of steam generator tubing have occurred in many tubes in Korean plants, and they were repaired using sleeves or plugs. In order to develop proper repair criteria, it is necessary to ascertain the leak behavior of the tubings. A high-pressure leak and burst testing system was manufactured. Various types of electro-discharged-machined (EDM) notches having different lengths were machined on the o.d. of test tubes to study SG tube behavior. Leak rate and ligament rupture pressure as well as the burst pressure were measured for the tubes at room temperature. Rupture pressure of the part through-wall defect tubes depends on the defect depth and length. Water flow rates after the rupture were independent of the flaw types; tubes having 20–60 mm long EDM notches showed similar flow rates regardless of the initial defect depth. A fast pressurization rate generated a lower burst pressure than the case of a slow pressurization.     

Creep behaviour of modified 9Cr-1Mo ferritic steel

Creep deformation and fracture behaviour of indigenously developed modified 9Cr-1Mo steel for steam generator (SG) tube application has been examined at 823, 848 and 873 K. Creep tests were performed on flat creep specimens machined from normalised and tempered SG tubes at stresses ranging from 125 to 275 MPa. The stress dependence of minimum creep rate obeyed Norton’s power law. Similarly, the rupture life dependence on stress obeyed a power law. The fracture mode remained transgranular at all test conditions examined. The analysis of creep data indicated that the steel obey Monkman-Grant and modified Monkman-Grant relationships and display high creep damage tolerance factor. The tertiary creep was examined in terms of the variations of time to onset of tertiary creep with rupture life, and a recently proposed concept of time to reach Monkman-Grant ductility, and its relationship with rupture life that depends only on damage tolerance factor. SG tube steel exhibited creep-rupture strength comparable to those reported in literature and specified in the nuclear design code RCC-MR.     

Determination of the critical crack length for steam generator tubing based on fracture-mechanics-based method

The steam generator (SG) tubing, as a key ingredient in the primary coolant circuit, is the weakest link that affects the availability and safety of a nuclear power plant. For safety reasons, it is very important to predict the life span of SG tubing. The critical crack lengths at different stages should be determined when the life span can be predicted. In this article, the critical crack lengths at different stages are determined in the form of graphs based on fracture-mechanics approach. From these graphs, it is concluded that the critical crack lengths for fatigue, stress corrosion cracking (SCC), and rupture are 0.11 mm, 0.36 mm and 7.20 mm respectively under accident conditions, and 1 mm, 2 mm, 43 mm respectively under normal conditions. It can also be concluded that the crack propagation mechanism can be divided successively into three or four stages, namely the corrosion stage, the fatigue stage (if the load is turbulent), the SCC stage and the rupture stage. Finally, some advices for the accelerated life test are given.     

Gain scheduled dynamic sliding mode control for nuclear steam generators

U-Tube Steam Generator (UTSG) is one of the most important facilities in a pressurized-water nuclear reactor. Poor control of the Steam Generator (SG) water level in the secondary circuit of a nuclear power plant can lead to frequent reactor shutdowns or damage of turbine blades. The control problem is challenging, especially at low power levels due to shrink and swell phenomena and flow measurement errors. In addition, the dynamics of steam generator vary as the power level changes. Therefore, designing a suitable controller for all power levels is a necessary step to enhance the plant availability factor. The purpose of this paper is to design, analyze and evaluate a water level controller for U-tube steam generators using dynamic sliding mode control. The employed method is easy to implement in practical applications and moreover, the dynamic sliding mode control exhibits the desired dynamic properties during the entire output-tracking process independent of perturbations. Gain scheduling is used to obtain a global water level controller. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance, robustness, and stability of the proposed controller.Computer simulations show that the proposed controller improves the transient response of steam generator water level and demonstrates its superiority to existing controllers.     

Trans-twins stress corrosion cracking behaviors of Alloy 690TT in lead-containing caustic solution at 330 °C

Twin grain boundaries (GBs) are found to be inherently resistant to stress corrosion cracking (SCC), which has become one of the main failure mechanisms of steam generator (SG) tubing since the 1980s and brings huge economic losses to the nuclear power plants. As it is a widely used material for SG tubing, the SCC-resistance of the twins in Alloy 690TT in 10 wt.% sodium hydroxide solution with 100 ppm litharge at 330 °C was studied using C-ring samples. The relationship between the crack paths, twin GBs and the residual strains in the studied areas were analyzed using an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) equipped with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) equipment. A continuously stressed C-ring sample without immersion was used to evaluate the effect of residual stress or strain on the microstructure of the twin GBs. The oxides at the crack paths were analyzed by an energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that many twin GBs are cracked during crack propagation. There are more twins with large deviations from the ideal ∑3 twin misorientation in the studied area where the residual strain is high. In situ EBSD analyses verify that higher residual strain causes twins to deviate from the ideal twin microrientation and can even promote twins transiting into random high angle grain boundaries, when the residual strain is high enough. The EDS result illustrates that litharge accelerates the dissolution of the chromium and nickel in the matrix. Overall, the SCC-resistance of the twins in Alloy 690TT in the studied solution is reduced by the destruction of the ideal microrientation of the twin GBs and the preferential dissolution of chromium and nickel at the crack paths. Higher residual strain on the Alloy 690TT and deleterious impurities in the circulating secondary water should be eliminated during the operation of nuclear power plants.     

蒸汽发生器液压胀接保压时间及拉脱力的研究

蒸汽发生器是核电站的核心设备,若在正常工作中发生泄漏,将影响整个核动力装置的稳定性和安全性。蒸汽发生器中管板和换热管的连接主要靠液压胀接来完成,液压胀接处最容易发生泄漏,针对蒸汽发生器液压胀接的研究变得至关重要。本文进行了胀接试验及拉脱力试验,确定了合理的保压时间。对胀接过程进行有限元分析,研究了不同厚度管板的残余接触压力,并给出蒸汽发生器拉脱力的理论计算公式。结果表明,保压时间应控制在6~8s,蒸汽发生器拉脱力的计算应使用修正后的公式。     

An aging assessment on ex-service Alloy 800 steam generator tubing

To support SG life extension and plant life management, an aging assessment was performed on a number of ex-service Alloy 800 steam generator (SG) tubes removed from three CANDU^®1 stations with service life spanning from 2 to 27 years. Laboratory tests and examinations were carried out to investigate the potential aging mechanisms of SG tubing. High-temperature electrochemical experiments were performed under simulated SG secondary side crevice chemistry conditions to determine the corrosion susceptibility of the ex-service tubing; metallurgical examinations were carried out to check the chemical compositions, grain size, and hardness of the ex-service tubing materials and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis was performed to assess the potential surface chromium depletion and grain boundary segregation of the ex-service tubing. Based on the results from the assessment, no increase in the corrosion susceptibility or changes in metallurgical properties of the ex-service tubes resulting from aging were observed. SIMS top-down profiles did not detect any aging-related surface chromium depletion on any of the ex-service tubes. However, SIMS imaging performed on the polished cross-sections of the ex-service tubes observed boron precipitation at the grain boundaries. Since no archived tubing with the same heat number as that of the ex-service tubing is available for comparison, whether the boron precipitation at grain boundaries is attributed to aging through SG operation is not conclusive and needs further clarification. In addition, the impact of this boron precipitation on the integrity of Alloy 800 SG tubing needs further investigation.     

基于卡尔曼滤波器的蒸汽发生器水位辨识和仿真

为了实现对蒸汽发生器(SG)水位的有效控制,从现代控制论中观测器理论着手,提出一种基于卡尔曼滤波器的假水位检测方法。卡尔曼滤波器是对包含噪声的测定值来估计状态量的有效工具,用卡尔曼滤波器构造一个"假水位"观测器,能够较有效地得到假水位的状态变量。应用该模型对几种典型的反应堆运行功率下SG水位动力学特性进行了仿真计算,结果表明卡尔曼滤波器仿真模型正确辨识出由于SG运行中的逆动力学效应而产生的"假水位",利用该模型可以对SG水位动力学特性进行精确的分析。     

基于小波神经网络的蒸汽发生器动态过程辨识

在核动力蒸汽发生器(SG)运行过程中，其逆动力学效应使其动态特性难以辨识。为提高蒸汽发生器动态特性辨识的效果，提出了基于小波神经网络的蒸汽发生器动态过程辨识的新方法。辨识模型采用串并联型辨识结构，网络训练采用Levenberg Marququardt学习算法（LMBP）。对蒸汽发生器典型运行工况的辨识结果表明，所提出的方法能够正确地辨识蒸汽发生器的动态特性且具有较高的辨识精度。     

集成神经网络方法在蒸汽发生器故障诊断中的应用

针对蒸汽发生器传统故障检测与诊断方法的不足,提出了基于集成神经网络的蒸汽发生器故障检测与诊断的新方法。该方法采用两个神经网络。一个神经网络作为蒸汽发生器的动力学模型,用于蒸汽发生器的重要运行参数的预测,其原理是通过检测蒸汽发生器运行参数监测信号值与相应的蒸汽发生器神经网络模型预测值之间的偏差来确定是否发生了异常,如果某一参数偏差超过了预先给定的极限,就认为发生了异常。另一个神经网络作为故障分类模型,用以对蒸汽发生器故障进行分类,给出故障的类型。由两个神经网络监测和诊断结果的融合给出蒸汽发生器故障较为清晰的信息。仿真结果表明,该方法能够提高蒸汽发生器监测与诊断的能力。     

蒸汽发生器泄漏率监测仪修复经验总结

目前压水堆核电站使用辐射监测仪对主蒸汽管道中的N-16核素浓度进行连续监测,由于蒸汽发生器泄漏监测仪长期工作在高温高湿环境下,普遍存在故障率偏高的问题,影响到了核电站相关系统的正常运行。从6台SGLM201型蒸汽发生器泄漏率监测仪的故障诊断、故障原因分析、修复技术研究等方面入手,分析了总γ计数异常闪发故障、稳峰异常故障...     

核电高效紧凑新型蒸汽发生器设计研究

为了适应三代核电机组进一步提质增效的发展需求,在确保安全性的基础上,采用更加先进的技术、同时兼顾设计及制造技术的成熟性,研究设计了一款经济性更好、技术性能更先进的高效紧凑新型蒸汽发生器（ZH-J60型SG）。ZH-J60型SG设置了轴流式预热器和泥渣收集器,并改进设计了小型双级叶片汽水分离器。计算和分析表明,ZH-J60型SG提高了SG自然循环倍率,提升了整机功率重量比、出口蒸汽品质和运行可靠性,完全满足并在部分关键参数上超过第三代压水堆核电厂SG的水平。      

CPR1000型核电站给水泵事故瞬态分析

以CPR1000型核电站3×50%电动给水泵为研究对象,采用基于RELAP5和Simulink程序开发的CPR1000数字化仪控系统仿真试验台,详细计算分析了给水泵单泵故障和双重故障对反应堆运行的影响及相应的缓解措施。结果表明,给水泵单泵故障对反应堆运行的影响较小,各相关参数能够很快重回事故前的稳态工况。在给水泵双重故障情况下：初始核功率在75%FP及以下时,不会出现蒸汽发生器(SG)低-低水位;初始核功率高于75%FP、汽机初始负荷在90%FP及以下时,需将汽机负荷阶跃降至50%FP,才不会出现SG低-低水位;汽机初始负荷在90%FP以上时,建议停堆。     

核电站非能动辅助给水系统仿真研究

以先进核电站AP1000为研究对象,在其蒸汽发生器二次侧设计了1套耗汽驱动汽动辅助给水泵的非能动辅助给水系统。使用RELAP5程序计算分析全厂断电事故下设计系统的运行特性,研究其应对事故工况的能力。计算结果表明：全厂断电事故下,设计的非能动辅助给水系统可有效地排出堆芯余热,保证反应堆的安全;由于冷却剂体积收缩,170 min时稳压器排空;该系统可连续运行200 min,排出事故后的大部分堆芯余热。非能动辅助给水系统可作为全厂断电事故后的应急缓解方案。     

基于SPSA的蒸汽发生器液位MPC系统性能优化方法研究

核电厂蒸汽发生器（SG）液位变化过程具有强非线性且存在“虚假水位”现象,传统SG液位控制系统多采用固定参数比例-积分-微分（PID）控制器,但传统PID控制方法不具备自优化、自适应、自学习等能力,使得控制系统性能难以达到并保持最佳。为提高机组瞬态响应能力以及核电厂的稳定性、安全性和经济性,提出了一种基于并行摄动随机逼近（SPSA）算法的模型预测控制（MPC）方法。该方法采用MPC系统代替传统PID控制系统,并利用SPSA实现液位控制系统参数的整定优化,从而实现SG液位控制系统的性能优化。通过仿真试验验证了本方法能够有效提高SG液位控制参数的整定效率以及控制系统稳定性。     

蒸汽发生器传热管的微动磨损损伤及预测模型

蒸汽发生器是核电厂中能量转换的关键装备,内部高速流经的高温、高压流体引起传热管流激振动,造成传热管微动磨损损伤,严重时发生管道破裂。文章介绍了传热管典型的微动磨损失效案例,相应的模拟实验研究结果,以及机械磨损与冲蚀-腐蚀共同作用的损伤机制。采用工作率模型可对传热管的磨损失效进行合理的寿命预测评估,该预测模型已经在核电厂安全评估方面应用。     

Potential steam generator tube rupture in the presence of severe accident thermal challenge and tube flaws due to foreign object wear

This study develops a methodology to assess the probability for the degraded PWR steam generator to rupture first in the reactor coolant pressure boundary, under severe accident conditions with counter-current natural circulating high temperature gas in the hot leg and SG tubes. The considered SG tube flaws are caused by foreign object wear, which in recent years has emerged as a major inservice degradation mechanism for the new generation tubing materials. The first step develops the statistical distributions for the flaw frequency, size, and the flaw location with respect to the tube length and the tube's tubesheet position, based on data of hundreds of flaws reported in numerous SG inservice inspection reports. The next step performs thermal-hydraulic analysis using the MELCOR code and recent CFD findings to predict the thermal challenge to the degraded tubes and the tube-to-tube difference in thermal response at the SG entrance. The final step applies the creep rupture models in the Monte Carlo random walk to test the potential for the degraded SG to rupture before the surge line. The mean and range of the SG tube rupture probability can be applied to estimate large early release frequency in probabilistic safety assessment.