Numerical Study of Natural Circulation Flow in Reactor Coolant System during a Severe Accident

The rupturing of steam generator tubes leads to serious accidents in nuclear power plants. It causes radioactive materials to leak into the secondary system and release outside the reactor containment region. Therefore, it is important to model a technique to determine whether the natural circulatio...

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Main Authors: Dae Kyung Choi, Won Man Park, Sung Man Son, Kukhee Lim, Yong Jin Cho, Choengryul Choi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-01-01
Series:Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/4531040
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author Dae Kyung Choi
Won Man Park
Sung Man Son
Kukhee Lim
Yong Jin Cho
Choengryul Choi
author_facet Dae Kyung Choi
Won Man Park
Sung Man Son
Kukhee Lim
Yong Jin Cho
Choengryul Choi
author_sort Dae Kyung Choi
collection DOAJ
description The rupturing of steam generator tubes leads to serious accidents in nuclear power plants. It causes radioactive materials to leak into the secondary system and release outside the reactor containment region. Therefore, it is important to model a technique to determine whether the natural circulation within a reactor coolant system (RCS) can cause rupture. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis methodology was incorporated as a first step to establish an RCS natural circulation evaluation technique to generate RCS natural circulation input parameters for the MELCOR analysis of thermally induced steam generator tube rupture (TI-SGTR) in nuclear power plants. Benchmarking tests were conducted against existing experimental studies; the results demonstrated a difference of 9.4% or less between the experimental and CFD analysis results with respect to the main evaluation factors. Subsequently, a steam generator tube simplification modeling technique was established for application to nuclear power plants, and CFD analysis was conducted to determine its applicability. The CFD analysis results revealed that when numerous tubes are simplified into one equivalent tube, the thermal flow characteristics generated in the RCS could be distorted. The findings of this research are expected to be helpful in understanding the thermal flow characteristics of natural circulation in the RCS. Further, the findings may potentially serve as a foundation for future CFD analysis research related to the natural circulation in the RCS of nuclear power plants.
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series Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
spelling doaj-art-603c89e956bf49dba708a2c4717187432025-02-03T05:57:23ZengWileyScience and Technology of Nuclear Installations1687-60832022-01-01202210.1155/2022/4531040Numerical Study of Natural Circulation Flow in Reactor Coolant System during a Severe AccidentDae Kyung Choi0Won Man Park1Sung Man Son2Kukhee Lim3Yong Jin Cho4Choengryul Choi5Elsoltec Inc.Elsoltec Inc.Elsoltec Inc.Korea Institute of Nuclear SafetyKorea Institute of Nuclear SafetyElsoltec Inc.The rupturing of steam generator tubes leads to serious accidents in nuclear power plants. It causes radioactive materials to leak into the secondary system and release outside the reactor containment region. Therefore, it is important to model a technique to determine whether the natural circulation within a reactor coolant system (RCS) can cause rupture. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis methodology was incorporated as a first step to establish an RCS natural circulation evaluation technique to generate RCS natural circulation input parameters for the MELCOR analysis of thermally induced steam generator tube rupture (TI-SGTR) in nuclear power plants. Benchmarking tests were conducted against existing experimental studies; the results demonstrated a difference of 9.4% or less between the experimental and CFD analysis results with respect to the main evaluation factors. Subsequently, a steam generator tube simplification modeling technique was established for application to nuclear power plants, and CFD analysis was conducted to determine its applicability. The CFD analysis results revealed that when numerous tubes are simplified into one equivalent tube, the thermal flow characteristics generated in the RCS could be distorted. The findings of this research are expected to be helpful in understanding the thermal flow characteristics of natural circulation in the RCS. Further, the findings may potentially serve as a foundation for future CFD analysis research related to the natural circulation in the RCS of nuclear power plants.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/4531040
spellingShingle Dae Kyung Choi
Won Man Park
Sung Man Son
Kukhee Lim
Yong Jin Cho
Choengryul Choi
Numerical Study of Natural Circulation Flow in Reactor Coolant System during a Severe Accident
Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
title Numerical Study of Natural Circulation Flow in Reactor Coolant System during a Severe Accident
title_full Numerical Study of Natural Circulation Flow in Reactor Coolant System during a Severe Accident
title_fullStr Numerical Study of Natural Circulation Flow in Reactor Coolant System during a Severe Accident
title_full_unstemmed Numerical Study of Natural Circulation Flow in Reactor Coolant System during a Severe Accident
title_short Numerical Study of Natural Circulation Flow in Reactor Coolant System during a Severe Accident
title_sort numerical study of natural circulation flow in reactor coolant system during a severe accident
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/4531040
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