Dry Wells Research Articles

Optimizing urban stormwater control strategies and assessing aquifer recharge through drywells in an urban watershed

A coupled simulation-optimization model (SOM) is developed in this work that links the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) with a genetic algorithm. The SOM simulates rainfall-runoff processes in urban watersheds and optimizes the implementation of drywells (DWs), bio-retention cells (BCs), and permeable pavement (PP) for stormwater control and aquifer recharge in District 6 of Tehran Municipality, Iran. Feasible DWs are selected through site inspection and considering stormwater quality criteria to prevent aquifer contamination. This study compares the current rates of urban runoff and groundwater recharge (baseline scenario) with new stormwater management strategies, which were designed based on several levels of funding. Results show the highest rate of runoff reduction and infiltration, as well as the most cost-effective options, would be achieved when DWs are added to the combination of BCs and PP for stormwater management. The runoff reduction rate in the presence of DWs would rise by 11.7, 7.0, and 6.1% in comparison to their absence for 12-, 17-, and 22-million-dollar budget levels, respectively. Implementation of BCs and PP would cause infiltration of about 235, 274, and 279 thousand m3 for the three cited budget levels, while combining DWs with BCs and PP would increase infiltration by 19, 15.6, and 14% for the three levels of investment, respectively. These results demonstrate the benefits of using local nonfunctional wells and qanats to reduce peak flows, replenish urban aquifers, and improve the economic efficiency of urban stormwater management projects.

Comparison of recharge from drywells and infiltration basins: A modeling study

Drywells (DWs) and infiltration basins (IBs) are widely used as managed aquifer recharge (MAR) devices to capture stormwater runoff and recharge groundwater. However, no published research has compared the performance of these two engineered systems under shared conditions. Numerical experiments were conducted on an idealized 2D‐axisymmetric domain using the HYDRUS (2D/3D) software to systematically study the performance of a circular IB design (diameter and area) and partially penetrating DW (38 m length with water table > 60 m). The effects of subsurface heterogeneity on infiltration, recharge, and storage from the DW and IB under constant head conditions were investigated. The mean cumulative infiltration (μI) and recharge (μR) volumes increased, and the arrival time of recharge decreased with the IB area. Values of μI were higher for a 70 m diameter IB than an DW, whereas the value of μR was higher for a DW after 1-year of a constant head simulation under selected subsurface heterogeneity conditions. A comparison between mean μI, μR, and mean vadose zone storage (μS) values for all DW and IB stochastic simulations (70 for each MAR scenario) under steady-state conditions demonstrated that five DWs can replace a 70 m diameter IB to achieve significantly higher infiltration and recharge over 20 years of operation. Additional numerical experiments were conducted to study the influence of a shallow clay layer by considering an IB, DW, and a DW integrated into an IB. The presence of such a low permeable layer delayed groundwater recharge from an IB. In contrast, a DW can penetrate tight clay layers and release water below them and facilitate rapid infiltration and recharge. The potential benefits of a DW compared to an IB include a smaller footprint, the potential for pre-treatments to remove contaminants, less evaporation, less mobilization of in-situ contaminants, and potentially lower maintenance costs. Besides, this study demonstrates that combining both IB and DW helps to get the best out of both MAR techniques.

Experimental investigation of void distribution in suppression pool over the duration of a loss of coolant accident using steam–water two-phase mixture

Studies are underway to determine if a large amount gas discharged through the downcomer pipes in the pressure suppression chamber during the blowdown of Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) can potentially be entrained into the Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) suction piping of BWR. This may result in degraded ECCS pumps performance which could affect the ability to maintain or recover the water inventory level in the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) during a LOCA. Therefore, it is very important to understand the void behavior in the pressure suppression chamber during the blowdown period of a LOCA. To address this issue, a set of experiments is conducted using the Purdue University Multi-Dimensional Integral Test Assembly for ESBWR applications (PUMA-E) facility. The geometry of the test apparatus is determined based on the basic geometrical scaling analysis from a prototypical BWR containment (MARK I) with a consideration of downcomer size, downcomer water submergence depth and Suppression Pool (SP) water level. Several instruments are installed in the test facility to measure the required experimental data such as the steam mass flow rate, void fraction, pressure and temperature.In the experiments, sequential flows of air, steam–air mixture and pure steam-each with the various flow rate conditions are injected from the Drywell (DW) through a downcomer pipe in the SP. Eight tests with two different downcomer sizes, various initial gas volumetric fluxes at the downcomer, and two different initial non-condensable gas concentration conditions in the DW are conducted. Three distinct phases, namely, an initial phase, a quasi-steady, and a chugging phase are observed. The maximum void penetration depth is observed in the initial phase. A reduction in the void penetration depth is observed in the quasi-steady phase. As a result of low non-condensable gas concentration, chugging is observed at the tail end of the experiment. Chugging provides renewed void penetrations comparable to those in the initial phase. It is determined that the void distribution and area of void penetration in the SP is governed by the gas volumetric flux at the downcomer and the non-condensable gas concentration in the downcomer.

Passive containment cooling system (PCCS) response with Drywell Gas Recirculation System (DGRS) activated during a postulated Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA)

Passive Containment Cooling Systems (PCCS) are characterizing the design of several advanced LWR such as SBWR, ESBWR, ABWR-II, etc. These systems should ensure the mitigation of postulated accidents both under Design Basic Accident (DBA) and Beyond DBA (BDBA) conditions. Some ALWR designs integrated in the PCCS a system called Drywell Gas Recirculation System (DGRS). The DGRS works like a fan, with inlet flow lines connected to the Passive Cooling condenser (PCC) vent lines and the outflow line connected to the Drywell (DW). The present paper presents the experimental results of an integral containment test performed in the PANDA facility. The initial conditions (temperature, pressure, gas composition, decay heat, etc.) for the test represent the containment situation 1 h after a Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA). The test consists of two phases (6 h each) for a total duration of about 12 h. In the first phase has been simulated the response of the PCCS to a LOCA, in the second phase the DGRS has been activated and has been investigated the effect of such activation on the overall PCCS response. The test shows that the activation of the DGRS has an effect on the overall PCCS characteristics, i.e. composition of gas mixture in the PCC tubes, stratification in the Wetwell (WW), DW–WW pressure differences, timing for the opening of the Vacuum Breakers (VB) and overall containment pressure.

A PANDA integral test on the effect of light gas on a Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS)

As part of the Euratom project TEMPEST (Testing and Enhanced Modelling of Passive Evolutionary Systems Technology for Containment Cooling), a series of five tests was performed in the PANDA facility to experimentally investigate the distribution of hydrogen inside the containment and its impact on the performance of the Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) designed for the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR). In a postulated severe accident a large amount of hydrogen could be released in the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) as a consequence of the cladding Metal–Water (M–W) reaction and discharged together with steam to the Drywell (DW) compartment. The retention of hydrogen in the DW, instead to be vented in the Wetwell (WW), has a positive effect toward the mitigation of the system pressure build-up. Hydrogen retention in the DW is a consequence of the stratification phenomena driven by the steam–hydrogen density difference. The paper presents the experimental results of the integral Test T1.2 performed in the PANDA facility. Helium was used to simulate hydrogen and the specific PANDA facility configuration included a dead-end volume, allowing for retaining a portion of the released helium in the DW compartment. The results from Test T1.2 showed that the containment end pressure is mainly determined by the redistribution of non-condensable gas inside the containment system and the temporary deterioration of the PCCS performance during the helium release phase plays a minor role.

Scaling of passive condenser system for separate effect testing

The passive containment cooling system (PCCS) of the simplified boiling water reactor (SBWR) is a passive condenser system designed to remove energy from the containment for long term cooling period after a postulated reactor accident. Depending on pressure condition and noncondensable (NC) gas fraction in drywell (DW) and suppression pool (SP), three different modes are possible in the PCCS operation namely the forced flow, cyclic venting and complete condensation modes. The prototype SBWR has total of six condenser units with each unit consisting of hundreds of condenser tubes. Simulation of such prototype system is very expensive and complex. Hence a scaling analysis is used in designing an experimental model for the prototype PCCS condenser system. The motive for scaling is to achieve a homologous relationship between an experiment and the prototype which it represents. A scaling method for separate effect test facility is first presented. The design of the scaled test facility for PCCS condenser is then given. Data from the test facility are presented and scaling approach to relate the scaled test facility data to prototype is discussed.

Pretest Calculations of Phase A of ISP-42 (PANDA) Using the GOTHIC Containment Code and Comparison with the Experimental Results

The pretest calculations of phase A of the International Standard Problem 42 (ISP-42) using the GOTHIC containment code are presented in this paper, together with the comparison with the experimental results.The focus of the analyses presented is on the mixing process in the drywells (DWs), initially filled with air, during the initial steam purging transient. Consequently, a large effort has been made to capture the flow pattern produced by the jet created by the steam injection, including in the model a large number of nodes for the three-dimensional (3-D) representation of the two vessels. The influence of the nodalization of the DWs on the calculation was investigated by means of two additional models using one volume for each of the DWs and a 3-D calculation using a much coarser mesh, respectively.Since the fluid in the DWs was well mixed and stratification occurred only below the injection level, all the models could predict very accurately the global variables such as pressure and temperature. The 3-D simulation also reproduced the wall and gas temperature distributions fairly well. The only (inferred) discrepancy with the test was the overprediction in the upward deflection of the buoyant steam jet.