Laser Rayleigh measurement of mixing processes and control of hydrogen combustion using quenching meshes

Two issues concerning hydrogen combustion under a severe accident scenario are addressed: (1) a laser Rayleigh scattering technique to investigate hydrogen mixing processes; and (2) the installation of metallic meshes between compartments to control and isolate hydrogen combustion within a single compartment. The Rayleigh scattering techniques are tested to determine hydrogen/air mixing processes locally and temporally as a non-intrusive probing method. To simulate mixing processes, helium is injected into a chamber filled with n-butane. Results show that helium concentration can be successfully monitored with sufficiently fast responses. Isolation and control of hydrogen burning is simulated by installing metallic meshes between compartments. Hydrogen is injected into one compartment and subsequently transported to the second compartment. Two sets of experiments are conducted with and without installing metallic meshes between the compartments. With the mixture ignited near the second compartment outlet, hydrogen combustion can be successfully contained within the second compartment with meshes, while flame propagates to the first compartment when meshes are not installed. These results demonstrate that hydrogen combustion can be controlled and isolated by installing meshes locally such that unwanted rapid pressure rise in a containment can be prevented. It also suggests the applicability of meshes for equipment survivability and protection from flame propagation by enclosing equipments with properly designed meshes.     

Air-hydrogen deflagration tests at the University of Pisa

In severe accidents, large amounts of hydrogen may be released in the safety containment of a nuclear plant and the gas mixture may become explosive. The University of Pisa and ENEA have undertaken an experimental program to study the physics of flame propagation in a containment model under accident conditions. Up to now 41 deflagration tests have been performed at the HYDRO-SC facility at ambient pressure and temperature. Concentrations, water spray conditions, ignition source and gas turbulence levels were varied. The vessel volume was 0.5 m³, the ignition sources were an electrical spark discharge and an electrically heated surface (glow-plug), the hydrogen molar fractions were in the range 4–16%, the turbulence was generated by fan or spray and two different spray nozzles were utilized. The experimental data indicate that the peak pressures nearly fit the adiabatic isochoric values at the highest hydrogen concentrations and gas turbulences. Weak pressure waves were observed for H₂ molar fractions greater than 10%. A careful examination of the pressure and temperature transients gave information on the flame path and on the heat transfer process during and after combustion. Scale effects on the peak pressures were not observed by comparison of the HYDRO-SC results with data obtained in other laboratories. The glow plug igniter has proved to be a reliable tool for use in deliberate ignition schemes for hydrogen control in nuclear plants.     

Flame-quenching model of the quenching mesh for H2–air mixtures

A deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) occurrence is one of the most important issues concerning safety during severe accidents in nuclear power plants because it can damage the integrity of the containment. It is possible to arrest the acceleration of a flame which can cause DDT by installing quenching meshes between the compartments. To evaluate the applicability of a quenching mesh to nuclear power plants, it requires a means to evaluate a flame arrest of a quenching mesh under a given combustion condition. The flame-quenching models developed by previous researchers were derived to fit the experimental geometry and to consider various thermal boundary conditions from a flame to the mesh wall. Flame-quenching tests were carried out at the 10% hydrogen concentration in a dry air by changing atmospheric pressure to 2.2 bar as the initial pressure. The quenching criterion of a quenching mesh with a 0.3 mm gap distance for hydrogen–air mixtures is established by using the experimental data. The flame-quenching models are also evaluated by using the experimental data. A flame-quenching model that can be used to evaluate a flame arrest for various hydrogen–air mixtures in nuclear power plants is proposed.     

水蒸气对氢气燃烧影响的数值研究

核电站严重事故下,氢气的燃烧风险是影响安全壳完整性的重要因素,而水蒸气的存在对氢气、空气混合气体的燃烧会产生重要的影响。本文采用CAST3M软件,对局部小空间内氢气的燃烧特性以及水蒸气的影响进行研究。首先对THAI装置的典型实验工况进行模拟,表明了相关燃烧模型的可用性。然后将高度为6 m、直径为2.2 m的圆柱空间作为燃烧域,对其分别计算了8%、10%、12%氢气浓度下的燃烧,并与添加25%水蒸气的相应工况进行了对比。通过对燃烧域的温度、压力以及火焰传播速度的分析,表明添加水蒸气后燃烧产生的最大压力下降,火焰的最大温度下降,火焰传播的速度下降。研究表明,水蒸气的存在对氢气的燃烧具有抑制作用,能有效降低氢气燃烧产生的后果。     

Numerical analysis of hydrogen risk mitigation measures for support of ITER licensing

In the ITER wet bypass scenario, water leakage, air ingress and hot dust (Be, W, and C) in the vacuum vessel could generate combustible hydrogen-air-steam mixture. Hydrogen combustion may threaten the integrity of the ITER VV and lead to radioactivity release. To prevent hydrogen energetic combustion, nitrogen injection system in VV and hydrogen recombination system in the pressure suppression tank (ST) were proposed. The main objectives of this analysis are to study the distribution of hydrogen-air-steam mixtures in the ITER sub-volumes, to investigate the feasibility of the nitrogen injection system to fully inert the atmosphere in the VV and to evaluate the capability and efficiency of the hydrogen recombination system to remove hydrogen in the ST. 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code GASFLOW was used to calculate the evolution of the mixtures and to evaluate the hydrogen combustion risks in the ITER sub-volumes. The results indicate that the proposed hydrogen risk mitigation systems will generally prevent the risks of hydrogen detonation and fast deflagration. However, the atmosphere in ITER sub-volumes cannot be completely inerted at the early stage of the scenario. Slow deflagrations could still generate quasi-static pressures above 1 bar in the VV. The structural impact of the thermal and pressure loads generated by hydrogen combustions will be investigated in future studies.     

Assessment of the GOTHIC code for prediction of hydrogen flame propagation in small scale experiments

With the rising concerns regarding the time and space dependent hydrogen behavior in severe accidents, the calculation for local hydrogen combustion in compartment has been attempted using CFD codes like GOTHIC. In particular, the space resolved hydrogen combustion analysis is essential to address certain safety issues such as the safety components survivability, and to determine proper positions for hydrogen control devices as e.q. recombiners or igniters. In the GOTHIC 6.1b code, there are many advanced features associated with the hydrogen burn models to enhance its calculation capability.In this study, we performed premixed hydrogen/air combustion experiments with an upright, rectangular shaped, combustion chamber of dimensions 1 m × 0.024 m × 1 m. The GOTHIC 6.1b code was used to simulate the hydrogen/air combustion experiments, and its prediction capability was assessed by comparing the experimental with multidimensional calculational results. Especially, the prediction capability of the GOTHIC 6.1b code for local hydrogen flame propagation phenomena was examined. For some cases, comparisons are also presented for lumped modeling of hydrogen combustion. By evaluating the effect of parametric simulations, we present some instructions for local hydrogen combustion analysis using the GOTHIC 6.1b code. From the analyses results, it is concluded that the modeling parameter of GOTHIC 6.1b code should be modified when applying the mechanistic burn model for hydrogen propagation analysis in small geometry.     

Direct containment heating integral effects tests in geometries of European nuclear power plants

The DISCO test facility at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) has been used to perform experiments to investigate direct containment heating (DCH) effects during a severe accident in European nuclear power plants, comprising the EPR, the French 1300 MWe plant P’4, the VVER-1000 and the German Konvoi plant. A high-temperature iron–alumina melt is ejected by steam into scaled models of the respective reactor cavities and the containment vessel. Both heat transfer from dispersed melt and combustion of hydrogen lead to containment pressurization. The main experimental findings are presented and critical parameters are identified.The consequences of DCH are limited in reactors with no direct pathway between the cavity and the containment dome (closed pit). The situation is more severe for reactors which do have a direct pathway between the cavity and the containment (open pit). The experiments showed that substantial fractions of corium may be dispersed into the containment in such cases, if the pressure in the reactor coolant system is elevated at the time of RPV failure. Primary system pressures of 1 or 2 MPa are sufficient to lead to full scale DCH effects. Combustion of the hydrogen produced by oxidation as well as the hydrogen initially present appears to be the crucial phenomenon for containment pressurization.     

Effect of initial conditions on combustion generated loads

This analytical study examines the effect of initial thermodynamic conditions on the loads generated by the combustion of homogeneous hydrogen-air-steam mixtures. The effect of initial temperature, pressure, hydrogen concentration, and steam concentration is evaluated for two cases, (1) constant volume and (2) constant initial pressure. For each case, the Adiabatic, Isochoric, Complete Combustion (AICC), Chapman-Jouguet (CJ), and normally reflected CJ pressures are calculated for a range of hydrogen and steam concentrations representative of the entire flammable regime. For detonation loads, pressure profiles and time-histories are also evaluated in one-dimensional Cartesian geometry. The results show that to a first approximation, the AICC and CJ pressures are directly proportional to the initial density. Increasing the hydrogen concentration up to stoichiometric concentrations significantly increases the AICC, CJ, and reflected CJ pressures. For the constant volume case, the AICC, CJ, and reflected CJ pressures increase with increasing hydrogen concentration on the rich side of stoichiometric concentrations. For the constant initial pressure case, the AICC, CJ, and reflected CJ pressures decrease with increasing hydrogen concentration on the rich side of stoichiometric values. The addition of steam decreases the AICC, CJ, and reflected CJ pressures for the constant initial pressure case, but increases them for the constant volume case. For detonations, the pressure time-histories can be normalized with the AICC pressure and the reverberation time for Cartesian geometry.     

Influence of natural convection and diluent inerting on H2 and CO oxidation in the reactor cavity

The question of complete in-cavity oxidation of combustible gases produced by core-concrete interactions following vessel breach has been investigated. It is overly optimistic to assume a complete oxidation because a variety of phenomena, such as steam inerting and oxygen transport by natural convection, may influence the degree of in-cavity oxidation that takes place. HECTR analyses of an ice-condenser containment during an S2HF drain-closed accident show that the in-cavity oxidation process is limited by the rate at which oxygen is transported into the reactor cavity region. Accumulation and subsequent combustion of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the upper and lower compartments generate a peak pressure of 384 kPa (56 psig) at 7.4 h, that an earlier IDCOR analysis did not predict.     

核电厂严重事故下氢气燃烧单步模型研究

通过改变指前因子和活化能系数，构建氢气燃烧单步反应机理，利用构建的单步机理开展严重事故下氢气燃烧计算分析，将计算结果与试验数据进行对比分析，同时利用机理开展不同氢气浓度条件下氢气燃烧数值计算。结果表明:单步机理在氢气火焰传播速度方面计算值与试验值符合很好，修正后的氢气燃烧单步机理可用于核电厂氢气燃烧计算分析。      

Effects of obstacle position and number on the overpressure of hydrogen combustion in a semi-confined compartment

During a severe accident in a pressurized water reactor, large quantities of hydrogen can be produced and released into the containment. The hydrogen mixed with air may be ignited. Rapid pressure rise is likely to occur during hydrogen combustion in a semi-confined compartment because the length–diameter ratio of the compartment is relatively large and there generally are some devices and components in the compartment. Obstacle position and number have a significant and complex effect on combustion pressure. In this paper, a numerical analysis of the effects of obstacle position and number on the overpressure of hydrogen combustion in a semi-confined compartment was carried out to identify the arrangement of obstacles that can decrease the pressure loads generated by hydrogen combustion. The overpressure in the compartment with a single obstacle was found first increases to a maximum value and then decreases as the obstacle moving from the closed end to the open end. When there are multiple obstacles existing in the compartment, minimize the obstacle spacing and number is likely to reduce the maximum overpressure of hydrogen combustion. In addition, intentionally adjust the length of obstacle array may help for reducing the maximum overpressure.     

Stress-corrosion-cracking of Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes: Part 2. Cs/Cd mixtures and fractography

The stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) susceptibility has been measured for two batches of Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes manufactured to the same specification. The burst pressures in the presence of Cs/Cd were in some cases lower than those in the presence of iodine, indicating that this environment is of potential importance for fuel rod failure. The effect of the Cs/Cd mixtures was similar in both tube types, but was much weaker at slower pressurizing speeds and at 400° C, possibly due to a loss of Cs.The fractures produced in the presence of iodine in this study appear essentially the same as those published previously and very similar to those produced in the presence of Cs/Cd. This probably indicates that a similar mechanism operates in both cases.     

The Advantages of Non-Thermal Plasma for Detonation Initiation Compared with Spark Plug

In this paper, the characteristics of detonation combustion ignited by AC-driven non-thermal plasma and spark plug in air/acetylene mixture have been compared in a double-tube experiment system. The two tubes had the same structure, and their closed ends were installed with a plasma generator and a spark plug, respectively. The propagation characteristics of the flame were measured by pressure sensors and ion probes. The experiment results show that, compared with a spark plug, the non-thermal plasma obviously broadened the range of equivalence ratio when the detonation wave could develop successfully, it also heightened the pressure value of detonation wave. Meanwhile, the detonation wave development time and the entire flame propagation time were reduced by half. All of these advantages benefited from the larger ignition volume when a non-thermal plasma was applied.     

Analysis of hydrogen flame acceleration in APR1400 containment by coupling hydrogen distribution and combustion analysis codes

This study was conducted as part of the construction of an integrated system to mechanistically evaluate flame acceleration characteristics in a containment of a nuclear power plant during a severe accident. In the integrated analysis system, multi-dimensional hydrogen distribution and combustion analysis codes are used to consider three-dimensional effects of the hydrogen behaviors. GASFLOW is used for the analysis of a hydrogen distribution in the containment. For the analysis of a hydrogen combustion in the containment, an open-source CFD (computational fluid dynamics) code OpenFOAM is chosen. Data of the hydrogen and steam distributions obtained from a GASFLOW analysis are transferred to the OpenFOAM combustion solver by a conversion and interpolation process between the solvers. The combustion solver imports the transferred data and initializes the containment atmosphere as an initial condition of a hydrogen combustion analysis. The turbulent combustion model used in this study was validated by evaluating the F22 test of the FLAME experiment. The coupled analysis method was applied for the analysis of a hydrogen combustion during a station blackout accident in an APR1400. In addition, the characteristics of the flame acceleration depending on a hydrogen release location are comparatively evaluated.     

钠滴氧化燃烧特性的实验研究

液态钠泄漏和燃烧是钠冷快堆在运行中一多发的常见事故。本文主要针对液态钠滴在不同初始温度(140~370℃)和氧浓度(4%~21%)条件下的氧化燃烧行为进行实验研究。实验通过1套钠滴燃烧装置和高速摄像机使钠滴的氧化燃烧行为可视化。实验结果表明:钠滴的初始温度和氧浓度越低,钠滴表面产生的柱状氧化物越长;在相同氧浓度条件下,钠滴初始温度越高,越易着火燃烧;钠滴初始温度在200℃以下时很难点燃,当有扰动破坏了表面的氧化层结构时,钠滴也会逐渐燃烧;钠滴初始温度在140~370℃的条件下,氧浓度≥12%时,钠滴能燃烧充分,最高温度基本可升至600~800℃;氧浓度12%时,燃烧并不充分,燃烧的最高温度均在600℃以下。这些结果对柱状流及雾状钠火的研究有重要的指导意义。     

Severe accident analysis of a 1300 MWe PWR to address the hydrogen issue

The behaviour of the potentially large quantity of hydrogen generated during a severe accident has been recognised as an issue of importance since the accident at Three Mile Island. In this article, we describe a severe accident analysis for the Neckarwestheim 2 1300 MWe PWR “Konvoi” plant, performed primarily to investigate the behaviour of hydrogen in the containment, and draw conclusions regarding the need for hydrogen control systems (igniters). The Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP) developed by IDCOR in the United States, and the Westinghouse COMPACT multi-compartment containment code were used. The study investigated the generation, release to containment, distribution within containment and potential combustion of hydrogen produced during two severe accident sequences. Results are summarized which show that hydrogen mixing in containment is generally good and that even without hydrogen control systems, hydrogen combustion, although possible, does not threaten containment integrity.     

含裂纹锆合金包壳管氢致多场耦合行为的数值模拟研究

考虑氢化物应力再取向,给出了锆合金包壳管氢致多场耦合行为的理论模型。建立了相应的多场耦合计算方法,编程获得了有限元程序。针对内压作用下的含轴向裂纹包壳管,建立了有限元模型,对其氢致多场耦合行为进行了计算分析。研究结果表明：对于含大量固溶氢原子的含裂纹包壳管,只有裂纹尖端区域析出较多的氢化物,这主要是由于此处存在很大的静水应力梯度和氢原子浓度梯度,并具有较低的氢原子固溶度;裂纹尖端析出的氢化物绝大部分沿包壳管径向,致使包壳管易于产生径向开裂,威胁其安全性;内压施加完成后,因氢化物析出膨胀,裂纹尖端区域的环向应力、径向应力、静水应力及其梯度均随时间而降低,导致氢化物析出逐渐减速。     

Modeling maximum flame speeds

A simple gold model for flame acceleration in tubes, caused by repeated obstacles, has been developed using a “boxcar” approach. The tube is assumed to consist of a series of chambers separated by obstacles. The feedback mechanism for flame acceleration is modeled by assuming that the effective burning velocity in the nth chamber depends on the same quantity in the (n − 1th) chamber. The equation for flame propagation is shown to be a logical difference equation. The equation predicts the various experimentally observed end results of flame acceleration such as total flame extinguishment after a flame has reached a certain critical flame speed, subsonic steady-state flame propagation, and continuous flame acceleration leading to transition to detonation. This equation models flame acceleration phenomenologically by associating various terms with effects such as flame folding, fine-scale turbulence, quenching and gas dynamics. The predicted maximum flame speeds (subsonic flame propagation) for various mixture compositions, obstacle spacings, obstacle blockage ratios, and initial gas temperatures agree with the experimental results fairly well.     

小型堆严重事故下安全壳内氢气行为分析

采用MELCOR程序,对小型堆破口叠加全部电源丧失的典型严重事故进行计算,并对安全壳内发生氢气燃烧、爆炸的可能性进行分析。结果表明:主管道直径3.72%的破口叠加全部电源丧失后,堆芯裸露,出现熔堆事故;同时锆水反应产生的大量氢气进入安全壳,使安全壳内氢气含量上升,在安全壳局部空间、屏蔽水箱内出现氢气燃烧。但由于小型堆安全壳净容积较小,水蒸气含量较高,氧气含量较少,不会导致氢气爆炸。     

氢气-空气混合气体燃烧特性试验分析

为了保证严重事故下安全壳的完整性,氢气点火器燃烧缓解措施被广泛应用于核电站内。本文在1个20m3立式圆柱罐体内进行9.28%浓度下的氢气燃烧试验,结合GASFLOW数值模拟和其他试验数据,对本次试验结果进行了综合分析。试验和模拟结果均表明:9.28%浓度下氢气完全燃烧,罐体内温度和压力快速增加;燃烧过程中罐体内高温气体通过辐射传热、对流换热和相变传热3种方式向罐体结构散热,使得罐体内温度和压力随时间逐渐降低,达到泄压和冷却的作用;燃烧过程有明显的方向性,即点燃后火焰在浮力作用下沿罐体中心线向上传播,到达顶部后转而沿罐体四周向下燃烧,燃烧初期火焰速度为11.15m/s;试验中由于内部构件的影响,火焰传播更为复杂。