Integral effect test on cooling performance of hybrid safety injection tank

Station blackout (SBO) accident is considered as one of the most significant design extension conditions (DECs), which has been extensively focused after the Fukushima Dai-chi accident. When the SBO accident occurs in the APR+ (Advance Power Reactor Plus), the PAFS (Passive Auxiliary Feedwater System), which is an advanced safety feature adopted in the APR+, should play a significant role to cool down the core decay heat without any operation of active safety systems. This study focuses on validation of the cooling and operational performance for the PAFS during the SBO transient with utilizing an integral effect test facility, ATLAS-PAFS. In order to simulate the SBO transient of the APR+ as realistically as possible, a pertinent scaling approach was taken into account. The initial steady-state conditions and the sequence of event in the SBO scenario for the APR+ were successfully simulated with the ATLAS-PAFS facility. In the transient simulation, major thermal-hydraulic parameters such as the system pressures, the collapsed water levels, the break flow rate, and the condensate flow rate at the return-water line were measured and investigated. Following the reactor trip at the initiation of the transient, the coolant inventory of the secondary system of the steam generator was reduced by the repeated opening and closing of the MSSV. When the collapsed water level reached 25% of wide range, the PAFS was actuated to cool down the primary system by the condensation heat transfer at the PCHX (Passive Condensation Heat Exchanger). The pressure and the temperature of the reactor coolant system continuously decreased during the heat removal by the PAFS operation. It points out that the PAFS can supply auxiliary feedwater to the steam generator and remove the core decay heat without any active system. From the present experimental result, it could be concluded that the APR+ has the capability of coping with the hypothetical SBO scenario with adopting the PAFS and proper set-points of its operation. This integral effect test data will be used to evaluate the prediction capability of existing safety analysis codes of the MARS, RELAP5 as well as the SPACE code and to identify any code deficiency for a SBO simulation with an operation of the PAFS.

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Integral Effect Test on Operational Performance of the PAFS (Passive Auxiliary Feedwater System) for a SGTR (Steam Generator Tube Rupture) Accident

Volume 6B: Energy ◽

10.1115/imece2013-63937 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Yusun Park ◽

Byoung-Uhn Bae ◽

Seok Kim ◽

Yun-Je Cho ◽

Kyoung-Ho Kang

Keyword(s):

Steady State ◽

Steam Generator ◽

Operational Performance ◽

Experimental Result ◽

Test Facility ◽

Experimental Program ◽

Primary System ◽

Steam Generator Tube ◽

Integral Effect ◽

Effect Test

The PAFS is one of the advanced safety features adopted in the APR+ (Advanced Power Reactor Plus) which is intended to completely replace a conventional active auxiliary feedwater system. The PAFS cools down the steam generator secondary side and eventually removes the decay heat from the reactor core by adopting a natural convection mechanism; i.e., condensing steam in nearly-horizontal U-tubes submerged inside the PCCT (Passive Condensation Cooling Tank). With an aim of verifying the operational performance of the PAFS, the experimental program of an integral effect test is in progress at KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute). The test facility, ATLAS-PAFS was constructed to experimentally investigate the thermal hydraulic behavior in the primary and secondary systems of the APR+ during a transient when the PAFS is actuated. Since the ATLAS-PAFS facility simulates a single train of the PAFS, the anticipated accident scenarios in the experiment include FLB (Feedwater Line Break), MSLB (Main Steam Line Break), and SGTR (Steam Generator Tube Rupture). Among them, SGTR was considered as one of the design basis accidents having a significant impact on safety in a viewpoint of radiological release. Therefore, the SGTR test was determined to be the integral effect test item in the frame of the ATLAS-PAFS experimental program. In this study, the PAFS-SGTR-HL-02 test was performed to simulate a double-ended rupture of a single U-tube in the hot side of the steam generator of the APR+. The three-level scaling methodology was taken into account to determine the test conditions of the steady-state and the transient. The pressures and temperatures of the system and the data related to the PAFS operation were collected with the measurement of the break flow. The initial steady-state conditions and the sequence of event of SGTR scenario for the APR+ were successfully simulated with the ATLAS-PAFS facility. And it was shown that the pressure and the temperature of the primary system were continuously decreased during the heat removal by the PAFS operation. The water pool in the PCCT was heated up to the saturation condition and the evaporation of the water made a decrease of the PCCT water level. It could be concluded from the present experimental result that the APR+ has the capability of coping with the hypothetical SGTR scenario with adopting the PAFS and the proper set-points of its operation.

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