• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.87-93
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• 2015

In this study, a numerical analysis was performed to simulate the thermal-hydraulic response of the secondary side of a steam generator(SG) model equipped with an orifice-type SG outlet flow restrictor to a main steam line break(MSLB) at a pressurized water reactor(PWR) plant. The SG analysis model includes the SG upper steam space and the part of the main steam pipe between the SG outlet and the broken pipe end. By comparing the numerical calculation results for the present SG model to those obtained for a simple SG model having no flow restrictor, the effects of the flow restrictor on the thermal-hydraulic response of SG to the MSLB were investigated.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.112-122
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• 2014

A main steam line break (MSLB) test at the ATLAS facility was simulated using the best-estimate thermal-hydraulic system code, MARS-KS. This has been performed as an activity at the third domestic standard problem for code benchmark (DSP-03) that has been organized by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The results of the MSLB experiment and the MARS input data prepared for the previous DSP-02 using the ATLAS facility were provided to participants. The preliminary MSLB simulation using the base input data, however, showed unphysical results in the primary-to-secondary heat transfer. To resolve the problems, some improvements were implemented in the MARS input modelling. These include the use of fine meshes for the bottom region of the steam generator secondary side and proper thermal-hydraulics calculation options. Other input model improvements in the heat loss and the flow restrictor models were also made and the results were investigated in detail. From the results of simulations, the limitations and further improvement areas of the MARS code were identified.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2003

An estimation methodology of the mass and energy (M/E) release due to the main steam line break (MSLB) has been developed with the RETRAN-3D code. In the case of equipment qualification (EQ), the over-estimated temperature would exceed the design limits of some cables or valves. In order to have a more flexible EQ profiles from the MSLB M/E release, the methodology with the best-estimated code was used. The major conditions affecting the MSLB M/E were found to be the initial SG level, heat transfer between primary and secondary sides, power level, operable protection system, main or auxiliary feedwater availability, and break conditions. The RETRAN-3D models were developed for the Kori unit 1 (KRN-1) which is typical two loop Westinghouse (WH) designed plant. Particularly, a detailed model of the steam generators was developed to estimate a more realistic two-phase heat transfer effect of the steam flow. After the modeling, the methodology has been developed through the sensitivity analyses. The M/E release data generated from the analyses have been used as the input to the inside containment pressure and temperature (P/T) analysis. According to the results at the point of view containment P/T, the Kori unit 1 can have more margin of 5∼15 ㎪ in pressure and 8∼15$^{\circ}C$ in temperature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.3256-3263
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• 2021

The main steam line break accident is an essential initiating event of the pressurized water reactor. In present work, the fuzzy set theory and the signal-based fault detection method has been used to detect the occurrence and diagnosis of the location and break area for the small scale MSLB. The models are validated by the AP1000 accident simulator based on MAAP5. From the test results it can be seen that the proposed approach has a rapid and proper response on accident detection and location diagnosis. The method proposed to evaluate the break area shows good performances for small scale MSLB with the relative deviation within ±3%.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.388-402
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• 2004

A phenomena identification and ranking table(PIRT) was developed for a main steam line break (MSLB) event for the Advanced Power Reactor-1400 (APR-1400). The selectee event was a double-ended steam line break at full power, with the reactor coolant pump running. The developmental panel selected the fuel performance as the primary safety criterion during the ranking process. The plant design data, the results of the APR-1400 safety analysis, and the results of an additional best-estimate analysis by the MARS computer code were used in the development of the PIRT. The period of the transient was composed of three phases: pre-trip, rapid cool-down, and safety injection. Based on the relative importance to the primary evaluation criterion, the ranking of each system, component, and phenomenon/process was performed for each time phase. Finally, the knowledge-level for each important process for certain components was ranked in terms of existing knowledge. The PIRT can be used as a guide for planning cost-effective experimental programs and for code development efforts, especially for the quantification of those processes and/or phenomena that are highly important, but not well understood.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.434-442
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• 2015

The advanced passive pressurized water reactor (PWR) is being constructed in China and the passive residual heat removal (PRHR) system was designed to remove the decay heat. During accident scenarios with increase of heat removal from the primary coolant system, the actuation of the PRHR will enhance the cooldown of the primary coolant system. There is a risk of power excursion during the cooldown of the primary coolant system. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the thermal hydraulic behavior of the reactor coolant system (RCS) at this condition. The advanced passive PWR model, including major components in the RCS, is built by SCDAP/RELAP5 code. The thermal hydraulic behavior of the core is studied for two typical accident sequences with PRHR actuation to investigate the core cooling capability with conservative assumptions, a main steam line break (MSLB) event and inadvertent opening of a steam generator (SG) safety valve event. The results show that the core is ultimately shut down by the boric acid solution delivered by Core Makeup Tank (CMT) injections. The effects of CMT boric acid concentration and the activation delay time on accident consequences are analyzed for MSLB, which shows that there is no consequential damage to the fuel or reactor coolant system in the selected conditions.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to develop an entrainment model of the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) U-tube Steam Generator (SG) for Main Steam Line Break (MSLB) analyses. Generally, the temperature of the inside containment vessel at MSLB is decreased by introducing the liquid entrainment effect. This effect makes a profit on the aspect of integrity evaluation for Equipment Environmental Qualification (EEQ) in the containment. However, the target plant, Kori unit 1 does not have the entrainment data. Therefore, this study has been performed. RETRAN-3D and LOFTRAN computer programs are used for the model development. There are several parameters that are used for the initial benchmark, such as Combustion Engineerings (CE) experimental data and the RETRAN-3D model which describes the test leg. A sensitivity study is then performed with this model in which the model parameters are varied until the calculated results provide reasonable agreement with the measured results for the entire test set. Finally, a multiplication factor has been obtained from the 95/95 values of the calculated (best-estimate) quality data relative to the measured quality data. With this new methodology, an additional temperature margin of about 40$^{\circ}C$ can be obtained. So, the new methodology is found to have an explicit advantage to EQ analyses.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.11b
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• pp.228-233
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• 2000

The Korean Next Generation Reactor(KNGR) is a Pressurized Water Reactor adopting direct vessel injection(DVI) to optimize the performance of emergency core cooling system(ECCS). In a certain accident, however, pressurized thermal shock(PTS) of the vessel due to the sudden contact with the injected cold water is expected. In this paper, an accident of Main Steam Line Break(MSLB) has been numerically investigated with direct vessel injections and an increased volume flow rate in some cold legs. Using FLUENT code, temperature distributions of the fluid in the downcomer and of reactor vessel including the core region have been calculated, together with the distribution of convective heat transfer coefficient(CHTC) at the cladding surface of the reactor vessel. The result shows that some parts of the core region of the reactor vessel have higher temperature gradient expressing higher thermal stress.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.214-226
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• 2000

In an effort to assess the performance of KAERI's coupled 3D kinetics - system T/H code, MARS/MASTER, Exercise III of the OECD main steam line break benchmark is solved. The analysis model of the reference plant, TMI-1 - a 2772 MWth B&W plant, consists of three major components: a core neutronics model involving 241$\times$28 neutronic nodes, a vessel 3D T/H model consisting of 374 hydrodynamic volumes, and a 1D system T/H model containing 157 hydrodynamic volumes. The results show that there is a significant amount of flow mixing occurring in the upper and lower plenum regions and the core power distribution evolves to a highly localized shape due to the presence of a stuck rod, as well as the asymmetric flow distribution. It is judged that MARS/MASTER properly captures these drastic 3-dimensional effects. Comparisons with other results submitted to OECD confirm the accuracy of the MARS/MASTER solution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.29-38
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• 2001

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the structural integrity of a reactor pressure vessel subjected to the pressurized thermal shock(PTS) during the transient events, such as main steam line break(MSLB) and small break loss of coolant accident(SBLOCA). For postulated surface or subsurface cracks, variation curves of stress intensity factor are obtained by using the three different methods, including ASME section XI code anlysis, the finite element alternating method and the finite element method. From the stress intensity factor curves, the maximum allowable nil-ductility transition temperatures(RT/NDT/) are determined by the tangent criterion and the maximum criterion for various crack configurations and two initial transient events. As a result of the analysis, it is noted that axial cracks have smaller maximum allowable RT$_{NDT}$ values than same-sized circumferential cracks for both the transient events in the case of the tangent criterion. Axial cracks have smaller RT$_{NDT}$ values than same-sized circumferential cracks for MSLB and circumferential cracks have smaller values than axial cracks for SBLOCA in the case of the maximum criterion.