Review on the steam-liquid separation in the steam generator of nuclear power plants

Abstract

Steam-liquid desiccators (SLDs) as an important nuclear energy conversion equipment are widely used steam-liquid separation (SLS) devices of steam generator (SG) in advanced nuclear power systems (ANPS), which have been applied since the birth of the advanced pressurized-water reactor (APWR). SLDs are important energy conversion equipment in nuclear power plants (NPPs), and the steam-liquid separation efficiency (SLSE) of SLDs determines the energy conversion efficiency of NPPs. Thus there are a lot of heat and mass transfer phenomena in SLDs. The commonly used desiccators in steam generators are mainly corrugated plate desiccator (CPD), swirl-vane separator (SVS) and screen desiccator (SD). The current article presents an overview of the research status of the of steam-liquid separation mechanism (SLSM) and SLSE of desiccators in SG. The technical maturity and future application prospects of different SLDs were discussed in detail. Some discussions and suggestions on further research on desiccator are put forward. The literature review indicated that there is a certain degree of difficulty in the study on SLSM of desiccator. Thus, very few analyses and experiments on thermal–hydraulic performance such as the droplet movement and liquid film rupture mechanism (LFRM) in desiccator have been carried out. Most researches focus on experimental studies on the influence of structural parameters on SLSE of desiccator. Only by improving the SLSE of desiccators in ANPS can the nuclear energy conversation (conversation of nuclear energy to steam kinetic energy) efficiency be improved.