Study of functional characteristics for safety system check valve using scaled model

Abstract

The paper provides results of experimental scale model studies of functional characteristics of a check valve used in the safety system of a liquid metal cooled reactor. The proposed check valve design with a hollow ball as a blocking element has a number of substantial advantages compared with the most widely spread valves with disc type flaps used as blocking elements. The advantages are valve operation independent of functioning of other safety systems and absence of friction pairs. The need to conduct experimental studies is determined both by the novelty of the proposed check valve design and by absence of verified computational validation methods for functioning of this type of valves. In this connection, the paper presents a computational validation method for hydrodynamic parameters of the proposed check valve design and similitude parameters describing hydrodynamic characteristics of the check valve – numeric values of the similitude parameters were obtained through calculations made by the ANSYSCFX commercial hydrodynamic code. The paper describes the experimental model of the check valve with two alternative options for the blocking element – one in the form of a hollow ball in a support bowl; and another one, in the form of a semi sphere on a guide rod going through the support sleeve on the valve spindle. Provided is a brief description of the test facility. Hydrodynamic characteristics of the check valve model obtained in experimental studies are shown in diagrams as functions of some design and operation parameters of the model.