• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1182-1193
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• 2005

The capability of TRAC-M code to predict downcomer boiling effect during reflood phase in postulated PWR LOCA is evaluated using the results of downcomer effective water head and Cylindrical Core Test Facility (CCTF) experiments, which were performed at JAERI. With a full height downcomer simulator, effective water head experiment was carried out to investigate the applicability of the TRAC-M best estimate LOCA code to evaluate the effective water head with superheated wall temperature in downcomer. In order to clarify the effect of the initial superheat of the downcomer wall on the system and the core cooling behaviors during the reflood phase, two sets of analysis were also performed with a CCTF. Results show that TRAC­M code tends to under-predict downcomer effective water head and core differential pressure. However, the code results show a good agreement with the experimental results in downcomer temperature, heat flux and pressure. Finally, both experiment and calculation showed that the downcomer water head with the superheated downcomer wall is lower than that of the saturated wall temperature.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.24-32
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• 2004

The characteristics of heat transfer from horizontal cylinder immersed in both a riser and downcomer of a circulating fluidized beds were investigated experimentally under different values of solids mass flux, superficial air velocity, particle size diameter, and different bed materials. The test results indicated that local heat transfer coefficients in both riser and downcomer are strongly influenced by angular position, and mass flux, as well as by particle size and bed materials. The local heat transfer coefficients around a circumference of the cylinder inside a riser and downcomer of a CFB exhibited a general tendency to increase with decreasing particle size and increasing solids mass flux and vary with different bed materials. Also the averaged heat transfer coefficient calculated from local heat transfer coefficient exhibited the same trend as a local i.e increase with decrease particle size and increasing solids mass flux and vary with varying bed materials. The general trend for a riser local heat transfer coefficient is decrease with increase angle until ${\Phi}$ = 0.5-0.6 (Where at angle =180$^{\circ}$ ${\Phi}$ =1). Also the general trend for a local heat transfer coefficient in downcomer is to increase with increase the angle until ${\Phi}$= ${\theta}/{\Pi}$ = 0.3-0.5 (Where at angle =180$^{\circ}$ ${\Phi}$ =1). Comparison the results of the heat transfer in the riser and downcomer of a circulating fluidized beds shows that they have approximately the same trend but the values of heat transfer coefficients in riser is higher than in downcomer.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.727-734
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• 2012

A new advanced safety feature of DVI+ (Direct Vessel Injection Plus) for the APR+ (Advanced Power Reactor Plus), to mitigate the ECC (Emergency Core Cooling) bypass fraction and to prevent switching an ECC outlet to a break flow inlet during a DVI line break, is presented for an advanced DVI system. In the current DVI system, the ECC water injected into the downcomer is easily shifted to the broken cold leg by a high steam cross flow which comes from the intact cold legs during the late reflood phase of a LBLOCA (Large Break Loss Of Coolant Accident)For the new DVI+ system, an ECBD (Emergency Core Barrel Duct) is installed on the outside of a core barrel cylinder. The ECBD has a gap (From the core barrel wall to the ECBD inner wall to the radial direction) of 3/25~7/25 of the downcomer annulus gap. The DVI nozzle and the ECBD are only connected by the ECC water jet, which is called a hydrodynamic water bridge, during the ECC injection period. Otherwise these two components are disconnected from each other without any pipes inside the downcomer. The ECBD is an ECC downward isolation flow sub-channel which protects the ECC water from the high speed steam crossflow in the downcomer annulus during a LOCA event. The injected ECC water flows downward into the lower downcomer through the ECBD without a strong entrainment to a steam cross flow. The outer downcomer annulus of the ECBD is the major steam flow zone coming from the intact cold leg during a LBLOCA. During a DVI line break, the separated DVI nozzle and ECBD have the effect of preventing the level of the cooling water from being lowered in the downcomer due to an inlet-outlet reverse phenomenon at the lowest position of the outlet of the ECBD.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.522-526
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• 2012

New experimental method to measure solid descending velocity in a vertical downcomer was presented and effects of downcomer diameter and particle properties on descending velocities for Geldart group A, B, and D particle have been measured and investigated. The effect of initial solid inventory on solid descending velocity was negligible. However, solid flow rate, solid circulation rate and solid descending velocity increased as the downcomer diameter increased. Moreover, solid descending velocity increased linearly as the downcomer diameter increased and showed distinguishable trend for Geldart group D particle from Geldart group A and B particles. Empirical correlations of solid descending velocity for Geldart group D and Geldart group A and B particles have been derived based on the measured values. The correlations could predict well the solid descending velocities.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.901-906
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• 1998

Gas and liquid flow characteristics were investigated in an internal circulation airlift reactor using a single nozzle for a gas distributor. In three reactors with different diameters of the downcomer and heights of the riser, the gas holdup in the individual flow zone and the impulseresponse curve of tracer for an air-water system were measured for various gas velocities and reactor heights. Experimental results showed that the flow behavior of bubbles in the riser was the slug flow due to strong coalescences of bubbles and that the bubble flow pattern in the downcomer was the transition bubble flow for the smaller diameter of the downcomer, however, it was the homogeneous bubble flow for the larger one. And mean gas holdups in the individual flow zone and the reactor were greatly increased with decreasing the diameter of the downcomer for the equal ratio of height of the top section to that of the riser. Also, the mixing time was much effected by the height of the top section of reactor and for the equal ratio of height of top section to that of the riser, it was increased with increasing the diameter of the downcomer and the height of the riser. Flow characteristics of liquid were mainly varied with the bubble flow pattern in the downcomer and the size of the top section of reactor. And circulation velocities of liquid in the riser were increased with increasing gas velocities and the size of the top section of reactor, and for the equal ratio of height of top section to that of the riser, they were increased with increasing the diameter of the downcomer and the height of the riser.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.709-718
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• 2012

The pressurized water reactor APR1400 adopts DVI (Direct Vessel Injection) for the emergency cooling water in the upper downcomer annulus. The International Standard Problem number 50 (ISP-50) was launched with the aim to investigate thermal hydraulic phenomena during a 50% DVI line break scenario with best estimate codes making use of the experimental data available from the ATLAS facility located at KAERI. The present work describes the calculation results obtained for the ISP-50 using the RELAP5/MOD3.3 system code. The work aims at validation and assessment of the code to reproduce the observed phenomena and investigate about its limitations to predict complicated mixing phenomena between the subcooled emergency cooling water and the two-phase flow in the downcomer. The obtained results show that the overall trends of the main test variables are well reproduced by the calculations. In particular, the pressure in the primary system show excellent agreement with the experiment. The loop seal clearance phenomenon was observed in the calculation and it was found to have an important influence on the transient progression. Moreover, the collapsed water levels in the core are accurately reproduced in the simulations. However, the drop in the downcomer level before the activation of the DVI from safety injection tanks was underestimated due to multi-dimensional phenomena in the downcomer that are not properly captured by one-dimensional simulations.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.51-54
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• 2002

When a cold HPSI (High Pressure Safety Injection) fluid associated with an design basis accident, such as LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident), enters the cold legs of a stagnated primary coolant loop, thermal stratification phenomena will arise due to incomplete mixing. If the stratified flow enters a reactor pressure vessel downcomer, severe thermal stresses are created in a radiation embrittled vessel wall by local overcooling. Previous thermal-mixing analyses have assumed that the thermal stratification phenomena generated in stagnated loop of a partially stagnated coolant loop are neutralized in the vessel downcomer by strong flow from unstagnated loop. On the basis of these reasons, this paper presents the thermal-mixing analysis results in order to identify the fact that the cold plume generated in the vessel downcomer due to the thermal stratification phenomena of the stagnated loop is affected by the strong flow of the unstagnated loop.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.663-668
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• 1997

한국형 차세대 원자로(KNGR)는 안전주입계통에 Advanced Design features를 채택하고 있는데, 그 중의 하나가 안전주입의 주입구를 Downcomer Annulus의 상부에 위치시킨 Direct Vessel Injection(DVI)으로서 영광 및 울진 3&4호기의 Cold Leg Injection(CLI)과는 다른 설계 개념이다. 본 논문에서는 DVI가 채택된 KNGR에 대하여 기존의 C-E형 발전소 해석에 적용한 C-E Evaluation Model(EM)을 사용하여 대형파단 냉각재상실사고를 해석해 보고자 하였다. 먼저 DVI의 Modeling은 KNOGR의 참조 발전소라 할 수 있는 System80+에서 Modeling한 것과 같이 CLI 해석에 사용한 Nodalization Scheme 중 Cold Leg Node에 연결된 SIT 만을 Downcomer Annulus Node에 연결하는 방법을 사용하여 DVI 해석을 수행하였다. 아울러 기존의 안전주입 형태인 CLI에 대한 해석을 KNGR에 대해 병행하여 수행함으로써 DVI와 CLI의 ECCS performance를 비교하고 CLI 대비 DVI의 특성을 알아보았다. 또한 DVI의 해석에 있어서 SIT와 Cold Leg이 함께 연결되는 Downcomer Annulus Node를 상하 2개로 분리하여 SIT와 Cold Leg 각각에 연결시킴으로써 DVI 주입구의 위치에 대한 보다 정확한 Modeling을 시도하였다. 그 결과 DVI 주입구의 높이를 고려한 경우가 DVI의 일반적 물리 현상에 근접하게 계산되는 것으로 판단되나 현재로서는 특별한 검증 수단이 없으므로 향후 Licensing 해석 수행에 앞서 방법론을 포함한 이에 대한 보다 심도 있는 검토가 필요할 것으로 판단된다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.457-462
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• 1997

현재 국내외 대부분 원자력발전소(이하 원전)의 안전주입방식은 저온관 주입방식을 채택하고 있으며, 안전주입시 노심의 온도와 압력분포가 주요 관심 대상이었다. 하지만 향후 개발될 원전의 안전주입방식은 저온관주입이 아닌 안전주입의 신뢰성을 한단계 높인 원자로용기 직접주입방식인 DVI(Direct Vessel Injection)방식을 채택하고 있는 추세인데, 이 경우 관심분야는 원자로용기 dowmcomer지역까지 확대된다. 즉 저온의 안전주입수가 고온 고압의 원자로용기 downcomer지역으로 직접 주입됨으로 인해 이 지역의 유체유동과 혼합상태 및 온도분포가 주요관심 대상이 되며 이는 원자로용기의 PTS(Pressurized Thermal Shock)해석에 연결된다. 본 연구에서는 LOCA 사고시 DVI방식을 적응한 안전주입수 유입에 의한 원자로용기 downcomer지역의 유제유동과 유체혼합상태 및 온도분포를 열유체 해석 code인 FLUENT를 이용하여 해석하였다. 해석결과에 의하면 사고시 DVI에 의해 유입되는 약55℉인 저온 안전주입수는 유입과 동시에 넓은 지역으로 퍼지면서 dowmcomer지역의 고온 원자로냉각재와 적절히 혼합되어 하향유로를 따라 흐르며 PTS의 발생 원인인 국부적 유체비혼합 현상이나 온도 급하강현상은 발생하지 않는 것으로 나타났다.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1-8
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• 2018

In this study, a small-scale siphon breaker experimental facility was designed to examine the validity of the Siphon Breaker Simulation Program (SBSP). To design the experimental facility, the simulation results of the C factor, Chisholm B coefficient, and Undershooting Height (UH) were obtained by SBSP. The major parts of the experimental facility were the upper tank, lower tank, downcomer, and Siphon Breaker Line (SBL). The area of the Upper tank was $0.09-m^2$ with a height of 0.65-m. The height of the downcomer was 1.6-m. Pressure transmitters and an electronic scale were used to obtain the experimental results. The experimental variables were the sizes of Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) and SBL. The experimental results were analyzed by UH. The SBSP well predicted the UH with an error of 2.5%. Overall, it is possible to design siphon breakers with various scales using SBSP.