A Methodology to Simulate the Impact of Tube Fouling on Steam Generator Performance With a Thermal-Hydraulic Code

ABSTRACT

Corrosion product deposits in the secondary side of nuclear plant steam generators may result in tube fouling. Tube fouling is a deposit that is influential for the heat exchanges between the primary and the secondary circuits. It may cause a steam pressure decrease and a power reduction. This paper presents a methodology to simulate the impact of tube fouling on steam generator performances. Simulations are performed with ThermoHYdraulique des Composants, which is Electricité de France reference code for the three-dimensional (3D) modeling of two-phase thermal-hydraulic flows in whole nuclear components such as steam generators. Tube fouling induces an additional thermal resistance on tubes. This resistance is supposed to correspond to the conductive resistance of a dense deposit by using the Maxwell model for a continuous solid phase with inclusions. As fouling deposit thicknesses are not uniformly distributed on the tube bundle, several thermal resistance distributions are investigated. In most cases, tube fouling concentrated in the hot leg is the most influential distribution. Nevertheless, for a large amount of deposits, tube fouling uniformly distributed in both hot and cold legs becomes more influential. This simulation series is an initial step. The strategy to improve the thermal resistance model is discussed.