Computation fluid dynamics analysis of the Reactor Cavity Cooling System for Very High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors

The reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS) for a very high temperature reactor (VHTR) represents a very important safety feature for achieving the defense in depth of the plant. An experimental facility was built for testing the heat transfer capability and phenomenology of this last heat sink designed for ensuring the cooling down of structural material of the vessel and of the concrete walls of the vessel cavity. This small scale facility was built using some of the scaling laws in order to resemble the main heat transport features in RCCS configuration. The natural convection phenomena and radiative heat transfer inside the cavity were represented. The experimental facility represents half of the vessel and of the reactor cavity with five stand pipes for cavity cooling using water as cooling fluid. Measurements were performed heating up the vessel surface temperature to an average temperature of 300 °C that is the average value in accident scenarios. Temperature measurements of the vessel surface temperature, the outer pipes surface temperature profile and inlet and outlet temperature of the cooling water were performed. Axial and radial temperature profiles of the air in the cavity were measured using a movable rack of 24 thermocouples. The results demonstrated the natural circulation phenomena. In addition Velocity measurement of the air inside the cavity were performed using particle tracking velocimetry techniques (PTV) determining the flow regime characteristics and the coupling with the temperature profile. The experimental test matrix of various flow rates in the cooling pipes were carried out.

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Simulation of the Operation in Passive Mode of Reactor Cavity Cooling System of High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor

Volume 4: Structural Integrity; Next Generation Systems; Safety and Security; Low Level Waste Management and Decommissioning; Near Term Deployment: Plant Designs, Licensing, Construction, Workforce and Public Acceptance ◽

10.1115/icone16-48935 ◽

2008 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alex Matev

Keyword(s):

High Temperature ◽

Cooling System ◽

Fission Products ◽

Computer Code ◽

Reactor Vessel ◽

Passive Mode ◽

Axial Distribution ◽

Air Ingress ◽

Cavity Cooling ◽

High Temperature Gas

The Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS) of a High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) may be required to operate in a “passive” mode when heat is removed from the reactor cavity by letting RCCS water inventory to boil off to atmosphere. Overheating of the reactor cavity concrete walls may lead to a failure of the reactor vessel support structures and its shift off the design position. Dislocation of the massive reactor vessel may cause multiple ruptures of pipes, connected to both the upper and lower vessel heads. Such breaks of the reactor pressure boundary will enable air ingress into the core, fuel oxidation and overheating, and possible release of fission products into the environment. The computer code TINTE [3] was used to simulate a “Depressurized Loss Of Flow Circulation (DLOFC) Without Reactor Scram” accident and determine from its results the magnitude, axial distribution, and time dependence of the heat flux on the RCCS cooling panels. The computer code RELAP [4] was used to model the operation in “passive” mode of one RCCS train, consisting of a tank and four standpipes. This paper describes the application of both RELAP and TINTE for the simulation of RCCS operation in passive mode. The main conclusion from this analysis is that the proposed way of using both codes is suitable to perform scoping studies and design evaluation of RCCS of a pebble-bed HTGR.

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