Depressurization of Vertical Pipe with Temperature Gradient Modeled with WAHA Code

Abstract

The subcooled decompression under temperature gradient experiment performed by Takeda and Toda in 1979 has been reproduced using the in-house code WAHA version 3. The sudden blowdown of a pressurized water pipe under temperature gradient generates a travelling pressure wave that changes from decompression to compression, and vice versa, every time it reaches the two-phase region near the orifice break. The pressure wave amplitude and frequency are obtained at different locations of the pipe's length. The value of the wave period during the first 20 ms of the experiment seems to be correct but the pressure amplitude is overpredicted. The main three parameters that contribute to the pressure wave behavior are: the break orifice (critical flow model), the ambient pressure at the outlet, and the number of volumes used for the calculation. Recent studies using RELAP5 code have reproduced the early pressure wave (transient) of the same experiment reducing the discharge coefficient and the bubble diameter. In the present paper, the long-term pipe pressure, that is, 2 seconds after rupture, is used to estimate the break orifice that originates the pressure wave. The numerical stability of the WAHA code is clearly proven with the results using different Courant numbers.