Loop analysis of a natural circulation two-phase flow under an external reactor vessel cooling

Abstract

Under ERVC (External Reactor Vessel Cooling) conditions in a severe accident, a natural circulation two-phase flow is driven and a decay heat from the reactor vessel wall can be removed for an integrity of a reactor vessel wall. In this study, to estimate a natural circulation mass flow rate and to analyze the major factor determining the natural circulation mass flow rate, a loop analysis using the drift flux model was carried out and the calculation results were compared with experimental ones. From the results, the calculated circulation mass flow rate was similar to the experimental results within about a 15% error bound. And it is estimated that the shape factor of the coolant inlet and outlet is dominant for the calculation of the natural circulation mass flow rate and that a modeling of the coolant inlet and outlet should be improved to predict an accurate natural circulation mass flow rate.