Reactor Containment Passive Safety Analysis: Steam Condensation in Presence of Non-Condensable Gas Scaled Experiment and Modeling
Abstract
This study presents steam condensation scaled experiments and semi-empirical models in presence of nitrogen (N)—a noncondensable gas (NCG), simulating air in the reactor containment—to support water-cooled small modular reactors (SMRs) passive containment cooling system (PCCS) design and analysis. Previous experimental studies on PCCS are focused on fixed and smaller tube (mostly 2-in.) geometries and specific test condition variations, bringing challenges with geometric scaling and mismatching with SMR prototypic design. to address these challenges, this study presents steam condensation test dataset obtained from three scaled test sections of 1-, 2-, and 4-in.-diameter steam condensers with an annular/ jacket cooling of 2-, 3-, and 6 in.-diameter tubes, respectively. Test data were collected for steam ranges from 58 to 63 kg/hr., and NCG flow of to 13.3 kg/hr. Annular cooling water flow was varied to obtain required testing conditions of saturated steam 4.4 inlet and fully condensed outlet. Axial temperature test data of bulk cooling water, steam and condensate were collected by thermocouples for three test sections and various steam-NCG mixing/testing conditions. a standard data reduction method was adopted—utilizing iterative and nodalized mass and heat transfer calculation—to estimate axial local heat fluxes, heat transfer coefficients (HTCs), condensation rates, film thickness, and Nusselt number. based on the obtained dataset semi-empirical model results—a ratio of experimental and Nusselt's theoretical HTC are presented. Such results and findings are supportive of developing scaled-up testing facility, to model validations and accelerate next generation of reactors development and deployment.
Recommended Citation
P. K. Bhowmik et al., "Reactor Containment Passive Safety Analysis: Steam Condensation in Presence of Non-Condensable Gas Scaled Experiment and Modeling," Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference, PBNC 2024, pp. 78 - 87, American Nuclear Society, Jan 2024.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.13182/PBNC24-45152
Department(s)
Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science
Keywords and Phrases
Next generation reactors; Noncondensables; Passive safety analysis; Scaled experiment; Steam condensation
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 American Nuclear Society, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2024
Comments
Idaho National Laboratory, Grant None