Study of thermal stratification in the cold legs during the subcooled blowdown phase of a loss of coolant accident in the OSU APEX thermal hydraulic testing facility

摘要

Thermal stratification, which has been linked to the occurrence of pressurized thermal shock (PTS), is observed to occur during the early stages of simulated loss of coolant accidents (LOCAS) in the Oregon State University Advanced Plant Experiment (OSU APEX) Thermal Hydraulic Test Facility. The OSU APEX Test Facility is a scaled model of the Westinghouse AP600 nuclear power plant. Analysis of the OSU APEX facility data has allowed the determination of an onset criteria for thermal stratification and has provided support for the postulated mechanisms leading to thermal stratification. CFX 4.1, a computational fluid dynamics code, was used to generate a model of the cold legs and the downcomer that described the phenomena occurring within them. Some mixing phenomena were predicted that lead to non-uniformity between the two cold legs attached to the steam generator on the side of the facility containing the Passive Residual Heat Removal (PRHR) injection system. The stratification was found to be two phase and unlikely to be a factor in PTS.