Simulation of gas mixing and transport in a multi-compartment geometry using the GOTHIC containment code and relatively coarse meshes

Verification of the Efficacy of Passive Autocatalytic Recombiners in a Typical Pressurized Water Reactor under a Station Blackout Condition

The presence of a stable stratified gas cloud inside the containment near or at the flammability limit may lead to deflagration or even detonation which may challenge the containment and cause a radioactive material release into the environment. To mitigate this risk, a number of approaches have been proposed, for example, containment inerting or venting and use of passive autocatalytic recombiners or igniters. However, for these measures to be effective, a thorough analysis of the hydrogen dispersion and associated phenomena is indispensable during the design phase as well as the mitigation phase during a severe accident. In this work, a MAAP analysis is performed to assess the hydrogen risk in a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) containment. An extended station blackout (SBO) was chosen as an initiating event given its high contribution to the core damage frequency. RCS depressurization and external injection are mitigation techniques implemented consecutively to extend the coping capability of the plant for the extended SBO scenario. A sensitivity study is performed to select the combination of timing and flow rate that generate the most severe case for the “in-vessel phase of hydrogen generation.” Subsequently, a number of passive autocatalytic recombiners (PARs) were implemented to mitigate the hydrogen risk during the first three days of the accident. The Shapiro diagram is used to assess the flammability condition of the containment atmosphere based on MAAP analysis. The results show that the gas mixture composition is acceptable in the majority of the containment compartments and only marginally acceptable in the cavity. Even under the conservative conditions of the accident, the simulation results confirmed the sufficiency of recombiners alone without igniters in the low hydrogen concentration zones, while for compartments close to the sources, additional mitigation may be needed.

Analyses of Gas Stratification Erosion by a Vertical Jet in Presence of an Obstacle Using the GOTHIC Code

The GOTHIC code was validated using three experiments carried out in the PANDA facility in the framework of the OECD/NEA HYMERES project. These tests addressed the mixing of an initially stratified atmosphere by means of a vertical jet in the presence of on obstacle (circular plate). This paper reports on the simulations of three experiments, and complementary, quasi-steady-state tests without stratification, where the flow structure above the impingement plate could be observed by means of particle image velocimetry (PIV) velocity measurements in a region larger than that considered in the transient experiments. Moreover, simulations of similar tests without obstacle conducted during the OECD/SETH-2 project are also discussed. The reference, best-estimate model used for the analyses of the three experiments with different flowrates and initial and pressure boundary conditions was built on the base of a multistep approach. This was based on mesh and modeling sensitivity studies mostly performed for the complementary tests, to assess the capability to represent the flow structure produced by the jet–plate interaction with different meshes around the plate. Generally, the results show that the use of a coarse mesh and the standard k–ε turbulence model permits a reasonable representation of the erosion process, but with a systematic over prediction of the mixing time. The results with the reference model were more accurate for two experiments with two flowrates and same initial conditions and all complementary tests. For the third test with different initial and boundary conditions, however, poor results were obtained with the reference model, which could only be improved by further refining the mesh. These results indicate that a model “qualified” for certain conditions could be inadequate for other cases, and sensitivity studies are necessary for the specific conditions considered in the analyses.

Analysis of Inertization Strategies for the Filtered Containment Venting System in Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant

During a severe accident (SA) in a nuclear power plant (NPP), there are several challenges that need to be faced. To coup with a containment overpressure, the venting action will lower the pressure but it will release radioactivity to the environment. In order to reduce the radioactivity released, a filtered containment venting system (FCVS) can be used to retain iodine and aerosols radioactive releases coming from the containment atmosphere. However, during a SA, large quantities of hydrogen can also be generated. Hydrogen reacts violently with oxygen and its combustion could impair systems, components, or structures. For this reason, to protect the integrity of the FCVS against hydrogen explosions, an inertization system is found necessary. This system should create an inert atmosphere previous to any containment venting that impedes the contact of hydrogen and oxygen. In this paper, the inertization system for Cofrentes NPP is presented. It consists of a nitrogen injection located in three different points. A computational model of the FCVS as well as the inertization system has been created. The results show that if the nitrogen sweeps and the containment venting are properly synchronized, the hydrogen risk could be reduced to a minimum and therefore, the integrity of the FCVS would be preserved.

Large-Scale Containment Cooler Performance Experiments under Accident Conditions

Computational Fluid Dynamics codes are increasingly used to simulate containment conditions after various transient accident scenarios. This paper presents validation experiments, conducted in the frame of the OECD/SETH-2 project. These experiments address the combined effects of mass sources and heat sinks related to gas mixing and hydrogen transport within containment compartments. A wall jet interacts with an operating containment cooler located in the middle (M-configuration) and the top (T-configuration) of the containment vessel. The experiments are characterized by a 3-phase injection scenario. In Phase I, pure steam is injected, while in Phase II, a helium-steam mixture is injected. Finally, in Phase III, pure steam is injected again. Results for the M-configuration show helium stratification build up during Phase II. During Phase III, a positively buoyant plume emerging from the cooler housing becomes negatively buoyant once it reaches the helium-steam layer and continuously erodes the layer. For the M-configuration, a strong degradation of the cooler performance was observed during the injection of the helium/steam mixture (Phase II). For the T-configuration, we observe a mainly downwards acting cooler resulting in a combination of forced and natural convection flow patterns. The cooler performance degradation was much weaker compared with the M-configuration and a good mixing was ensured by the operation of the cooler.