Effective Momentum and Heat Flux Models for Simulation of Stratification and Mixing in a Large Pool of Water

• Performance of a boiling water reactor (BWR) containment is mostly determined by reliable operation of pressure suppression pool which serves as a heat sink to cool and condense steam released from the core vessel. Thermal stratification in the pool can significantly impede the pool's pressure suppression capacity. A source of momentum is required in order to break stratification and mix the pool. It is important to have reliable prediction of transient development of stratification and mixing in the pool in different regimes of steam injection. Previously, we have proposed to model the effect of steam injection on the mixing and stratification with the Effective Heat Source (EHS) and the Effective Momentum Source (EMS) models. The EHS model is used to provide thermal effect of steam injection on the pool, preserving heat and mass balance. The EMS model is used to simulate momentum induced by steam injection in different flow regimes. The EMS model is based on the combination of (1) synthetic jet theory, which predicts effective momentum if amplitude and frequency of flow oscillations in the pipe are given, and (2) model proposed by Aya and Nariai for prediction of the amplitude and frequency of oscillations at a given pool temperature and steam mass flux. The complete EHS/EMS models only require the steam mass flux, initial pool bulk temperature, and design-specific parameters, to predict thermal stratification and mixing in a pressure suppression pool. In this work we use EHS/EMS models implemented in containment thermal hydraulic code GOTHIC. The POOLEX/PPOOLEX experiments (Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland) are utilized, to (a) quantify errors due to GOTHIC's physical models and numerical schemes, (b) propose necessary improvements in GOTHIC sub-grid scale modeling, and (c) validate our proposed models. Specifically the data from POOLEX STB-21 and PPOOLEX STR-03 and STR-04 tests are used for validation of the EHS and EMS models in this work. We show that the uncertainty in model prediction is comparable with the uncertainty in the experiments. The capability of the EHS/EMS model to predict thermal stratification and mixing in a plant scale pressure suppression pool is demonstrated. Finally, a new series of PPOOLEX experimental tests is proposed to reduce experimental uncertainty and to validate more accurately the sub-models used in the EMS model.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Energiteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Energy Engineering (hsv//eng)

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