A feasibility assessment of the use of nanofluids to enhance the in-vessel retention capability in light-water reactors

Nanofluids, colloidal dispersions of nanoparticles, exhibit a substantially higher critical heat flux (CHF) compared to water. As such, they could be used to enhance the in-vessel retention (IVR) capability in the severe accident management strategy implemented by certain light-water reactors. It is envisioned that, at normal operating conditions, the nanofluid would be stored in dedicated storage tanks, which, upon actuation, would discharge into the reactor cavity through injection lines. The design of the injection system was explored with risk-informed analyses and computational fluid dynamics. It was determined that the system has a reasonably low failure probability, and that, once injected, the nanofluid would be delivered effectively to the reactor vessel surface within seconds. It was also shown analytically that the increase in decay power removal through the vessel using a nanofluid is about 40%, which could be exploited to provide a higher IVR safety margin or, for a given margin, to enable IVR at higher core power. Finally, the colloidal stability of a candidate alumina-based nanofluid in an IVR environment was experimentally investigated, and it was found that this nanofluid would be stable against dilution, exposure to gamma radiation, and mixing with boric acid and lithium hydroxide, but not tri-sodium phosphate.     

基于CFD方法的非能动余热排出系统数值模拟

本文应用FLUENT软件对APl000的非能动余热排出热交换器和换料水箱进行了数值模拟，分析了不同c型传热管数量和冷却剂入口温度对热交换器换热性能和换料水箱内热分层、自然循环现象的影响。分析表明，总体通流面积不变，随着传热管数量增加，热交换器出口温度变小，水箱水温整体提升，热分层现象显著，自然循环趋势明显；质量流量不变，随着冷却剂入口温度的增加，入口流速增加，热交换器出口温度变大，但降温幅度也变大，水箱平均水温升高，热分层范围扩大，自然循环流速加快。     

大功率非能动压水堆DVI管破叠加IRWST失效触发严重事故分析

应用MELCOR 2.1程序,建立了大功率非能动压水堆核电厂主要回路系统及安全壳的热工水力模型,并以直接注水管线破口叠加内置换料水箱失效触发严重事故为对象进行了独立计算。计算结果与MAAP 4.04程序计算结果趋势一致,分析表明:MELCOR 2.1新版本对严重事故计算合理可信;部分非能动安全设施的启动有效地降低了主回路系统压力,防止高压熔堆,缓解了堆芯熔化进程,从而验证了非能动安全设施的有效性。     

The Direct Contact Condensation of Steam in a Pool at Low Mass Flux

The direct contact condensation of steam at low mass flux (in the chugging region) and the pressure oscillation induced by steam condensation were investigated and analyzed. During the experiment, the steam was discharged into a square subcooled water pool in the horizontal direction. The main experimental parameters were the steam mass flux in the range of 10–80 kg/m²·s and the subcooled water temperature in the range of 30–80°C. Also, two different nozzles (5/8, 6/8 inch) were used. In the chugging region, the high pressure pulses were generated with relatively low frequency. The frequency was little affected by the subcooled water temperature, but increased with increasing steam mass flux. A critical value of steam mass flux was found where the pressure pulse generation rate increased suddenly. This critical value for the 5/8 inch nozzle was found to be lower than that for the 6/8 inch nozzle. The pressure pulse was observed to be generated on the occurrence of sudden condensation of the steam bubble which was detached from the nozzle exit by the necking phenomenon.     

IRWST滤网漩涡分析技术

选择AP1000核电厂的IRWST滤网为研究对象,给出了临界淹没水深计算、瞬态仿真模拟和稳态仿真模拟三种漩涡研究方法,并得出IRWST滤网不会引起漩涡现象的结论。三种方法原理不同,可相互验证,用于研究滤网类产品的漩涡特性。     

Air clearing pressure oscillation produced in a quenching tank by a prototype unit cell sparger of the APR1400

KAERI has performed a series of experiments to investigate the performance of a prototype sparger for the APR1400 in view of a dynamic load oscillation with a variation of the test conditions such as a discharged air mass, a submergence of the sparger, the valve opening time, and the pool temperature during an air clearing phase. The air mass and pool temperature are in the range of 0.8–1.5 kg and 20–90 °C, respectively. The valve opening time can be adjusted within the range of 0.6–1.8 s. The maximum positive pressure amplitude, which is observed at the bottom of the quenching tank, is increased with the maximum header pressure of the sparger. The valve opening time has a considerable effect on the maximum amplitude. As the opening time decreases, the maximum amplitude at the tank wall is increased. Air mass and pool temperature, however, have a weak effect on the maximum amplitude. Oscillation frequency is decreased with an increase of the air mass in the range of 2.5–4.5 Hz.     

非能动余热排出热交换器流动和传热数值模拟

非能动余热排除系统(Passive Residual Heat Removal system,PRHR)是非能动核电厂的重要安全设施,在全厂断电事故下,大部分的堆芯衰变热是通过PRHR热交换器传递至内置换料水箱(In-containment Refueling Water Storage Tank,IRWST)。但PRHR热交换器属于大型非稳态换热器,其传热机理十分复杂。基于PRHR系统的重要性和复杂性,有必要研究PRHR系统的流动和传热特性。利用计算流体动力学(Computational Fluid Dynamics,CFD)软件针对非能动堆芯冷却系统试验装置中的PRHR系统进行建模计算,分析了PRHR热交换器及IRWST的流动和传热特性,发现IRWST内部沿垂直高度上呈现明显的温度分层现象,温度沿水平方向的分布趋于均匀;IRWST内部的流动主要是沿着C型传热管竖直段向上流动,流速逐渐增大,但在两相阶段,水箱上部区域流动明显增强;C型传热管上部水平段和竖直段上部区域的换热系数要明显高于其它区域,且在上部水平段与竖直段连接弯管处换热系数最大,在两相阶段,上部区域的换热系数明显增大。     

Design evaluation of emergency core cooling systems using Axiomatic Design

In designing nuclear power plants (NPPs), the evaluation of safety is one of the important issues. As a measure for evaluating safety, this paper proposes a methodology to examine the design process of emergency core cooling systems (ECCSs) in NPPs using Axiomatic Design (AD). This is particularly important for identifying vulnerabilities and creating solutions. Korean Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MWe (APR1400) adopted the ECCS, which was improved to meet the stronger safety regulations than that of the current Optimized Power Reactor 1000 MWe (OPR1000). To improve the performance and safety of the ECCS, the various design strategies such as independency or redundancy were implemented, and their effectiveness was confirmed by calculating core damage frequency. We suggest an alternative viewpoint of evaluating the deployment of design strategies in terms of AD methodology. AD suggests two design principles and the visualization tools for organizing design process. The important benefit of AD is that it is capable of providing suitable priorities for deploying design strategies. The reverse engineering driven by AD has been able to show that the design process of the ECCS of APR1400 was improved in comparison to that of OPR1000 from the viewpoint of the coordination of design strategies.     

An experimental study on the temperature distribution in IRWST

The In-Containment Refueling Water Storage Tank (IRWST), one of the design improve-ments applied to the APR-1400, has a function to condense the high enthalpy fluid discharged from the Reactor Coolant System (RCS). The condensation of discharged fluid by the tank water drives the tank temperature high and causes oscillatory condensation. Also if the tank cooling water temperature approaches the saturated state, the steam bubble may escape from the water uncondensed. These oscillatory condensation and bubble escape would burden the undue load to the tank structure, pressurize the tank, and degrade its intended function. For these reasons simple analytical modeling and experimental works were performed in order to predict exact tank temperature distribution and to find the effective cooling method to keep the tank temperature below the bubble escape limit (93.3°C), which was experimentally proven by other researchers. Both the analytical model and experimental results show that the temperature distributions are horizontally stratified. Particularly, the hot liquid produced by the condensation around the sparger holes goes up straight like a thermal plume. Also, the momentum of the discharged fluid is not so strong to interrupt this horizontal thermal stratification significantly. Therefore the layout and shape of sparger is not so important as long as the location of the sparger hole is sufficiently close to the bottom of the tank. Finally, for the effective tank cooling it is recommended that the locations of the discharge and intake lines of the cooling system be cautiously selected considering the temperature distribution, the water level change, and the cooling effectiveness.     

Strategy evaluation for fire spray system on Advanced Passive PWR Severe Accident Management Guideline

The fire spray system (FSS) of the Advanced Passive PWR, as a part of the fire protection system, can provide a non-safety related containment spraying function for severe accident mitigation which is included in the Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMG) of the Advanced Passive PWR when dealing with severe accidents. The effectiveness of the FSS is investigated on three effects for severe accident mitigation which are controlling the containment condition, washing out fission product and injecting into the containment through three representative severe accident scenarios analysis with integral accident analysis code since there is no sufficient data support, besides the negative impact is also discussed. Results show that the FSS can be effective for controlling the containment condition, washing out fission product and injecting into the containment, however the effect is limited due to system limitation: the FSS can only cool the containment atmosphere for a short term; the flow rate of FSS cannot fulfill the success criteria given in the PRA report of the Advanced Passive PWR. Meanwhile, the hydrogen concentration and the containment water level should be the long-term monitored because actuating the FSS may cause hydrogen risk in the containment and containment flooding. Despite its limitation and negative impact, the FSS can be effective as an alternative severe accident mitigation measurement for postponing the process of accidents for safety system recovery.