Abstract
The behaviour of the channel under postulated large break LOCA scenario had been a prime safety concern. The radiative heat transfer is predominant in a channel when the convective cooling environment is marred. The estimation of temperature distribution in the fuel pins at elevated temperature is essential from the point of view of hydrogen gas generation and release of fission products. In this paper, the thermal characteristics of a channel for Indian PHWR under critical break failure is studied using experimental and numerical techniques. The experiment is carried out on an Indian PHWR having a fuel bundle of 37-fuel elements. The temperature profiles for different parts of the simulated channel comprising of fuel pins, PT and CT are obtained under steady condition. The numerical analysis is also performed using ANSYS Fluent 19.0. From the study, it is found that there is a significant radial temperature gradient in the fuel bundle from the center ring to the outer ring. Also, no significant circumferential temperature gradient is observed in the fuel bundle, PT and CT.
Highlights
In an Indian PHWR of large capacity (700 MWe), there are 392 horizontal fuel channels, each 6 m long
The fuel bundle has a configuration of 37 fuel pins, which are arranged in a circular array of 1, 6, 12 and 18 fuel pins in the first, second, third and fourth ring, respectively [1]
The fuel pin of the center ring attained the highest temperature, which is because surrounding fuel pins of ring-2, ring-3 and ring-4 provide the resistance in the path of its radiative heat transfer
Summary
In an Indian PHWR of large capacity (700 MWe), there are 392 horizontal fuel channels, each 6 m long. The postulated accidental scenario like loss of coolant accident (LOCA) coincident with the rupture of the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) results in high fuel temperatures It is because, under such conditions, the convective cooling environment of the reactor channel is marred as superheated steam is the only coolant available for the removal of decay heat of the fuel. Ajay et al [5] performed an experiment on an Indian PHWR under an impaired cooling condition to estimate the radiation heat transfer in the channel having a bundle of 37-fuel elements In this present study, the thermal behavior of the coolant channel under LBLOCA (large break loss of coolant accident) condition for large capacity Indian PHWR is investigated through experimental and numerical techniques. The steady-state circumferential temperature distribution in each fuel pin of the fuel bundle, PT and CT due to radiative heat transfer is obtained
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