CFD modeling of passive autocatalytic recombiners*

• Authors: Magdalena Orszulik , Adam Fic , Tomasz Bury
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This study deals with numerical modeling of passive autocatalytic hydrogen recombiners (PARs). Such devices are installed within containments of many nuclear reactors in order to remove hydrogen and convert it to steam. The main purpose of this work is to develop a numerical model of passive autocatalytic recombiner (PAR) using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS-FLUENT and tuning the model using experimental results. The REKO 3 experiment was used for this purpose. Experiment was made in the Institute for Safety Research and Reactor Technology in Julich (Germany). It has been performed for different hydrogen concentrations, different flow rates, the presence of steam, and different initial temperatures of the inlet mixture. The model of this experimental recombiner was elaborated within the framework of this work. The influence of mesh, gas thermal conductivity coefficient, mass diffusivity coefficients, and turbulence model was investigated. The best results with a good agreement with REKO 3 data were received for k-ɛ model of turbulence, gas thermal conductivity dependent on the temperature and mass diffusivity coefficients taken from CHEMKIN program. The validated model of the PAR was next implemented into simple two-dimensional simulations of hydrogen behavior within a subcompartment of a containment building.

Keywords

EN

nuclear reactor; hydrogen; passive autocatalytic recombiners; CFD modeling

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Nukleonika
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 60
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 347-353

Dates

published

1 - 6 - 2015

received

12 - 12 - 2014

online

22 - 6 - 2015

accepted

30 - 3 - 2015

Contributors

author

Magdalena Orszulik

• Institute of Thermal Technology, Division of Heat Transfer and Nuclear Power Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 22 Konarskiego Str., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone]

author

Adam Fic

• Institute of Thermal Technology, Division of Heat Transfer and Nuclear Power Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 22 Konarskiego Str., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone]

author

Tomasz Bury

• Institute of Thermal Technology, Division of Heat Transfer and Nuclear Power Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 22 Konarskiego Str., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone]

References

• 1. OECD/NEA. (2007). Source term assessment, containment atmosphere control systems and accident consequences. (Report CSNI 87/135). Paris.
• 2. OECD/NEA. (1999). SOAR on containment thermalhydraulics and hydrogen distribution. (Report NEA/CSNI(R) 99/16). Paris.
• 3. Preußer G., Freudenstein, K. F., & Reinders, R. (1996). Concept for the analysis of hydrogen problems in nuclear power plants after accidents. In Proceedings of the OECD/NEA/CSNI Workshop on the Implementation of Hydrogen Mitigation Techniques (pp. 113–127). Winnipeg, Manitoba.
• 4. Arnould, F., Bachellerie, E., & et al. (2001). State of the art on hydrogen passive autocatalytic recombiner. In Proceedings of the FIssion SAfety (FISA’2001). EU research in reactor safety. Luxembourg.
• 5. Bachellerie, E., Arnould, F., Auglaire, M., de Boeck, B., Braillard, O., Eckardt, B., Ferroni, F., & Moffett, R. (2003). Generic approach for designing and implementing a passive autocatalytic recombiner PAR-system in nuclear power plant containments. Nucl. Eng. Des., 221, 151–165.
• 6. Reinecke, E. -A., Boehm, J., Drinovac, P., & Struth, S. (2005). Modeling of catalytic recombiners: Comparison of REKO-DIREKT calculations with REKO-3 experiments. In Proceedings of International Conference on Nuclear Energy for New Europe, September 5–8, 2005. Bled.
• 7. Reinecke, E. -A., Tragsdorf, I. M., & Gierling, K. (2004). Studies on innovative hydrogen recombiners as safety devices in the containments of light water reactors. Nucl. Eng. Des., 230, 49–59.
• 8. Levine, R. D. (2005). Molecular reaction dynamics. Cambridge University Press.
• 9. Launder, B. E. (1978). Heat and mass transport. In P. Bradshaw (Ed.) Topics in applied physics: turbulence (Vol. 12). Berlin: Springer.
• 10. Kays, W. M., & Crawford, M. E. (1980). Convective heat and mass transfer. McGraw Hill.
• 11. Tominaga, Y., & Stathopoulos, T. (2007). Turbulent Schmidt numbers for CFD analysis with various types of flowfield. Atmos. Environ., 41(37), 8091–8099.[WoS]
• 12. CHEMKIN. (2000). Reaction design: TRANSPORT, a software package for the evaluation of gas-phase, multicomponent transport properties. CHEMKIN Collection Release 3.6. (Document No. TRA-036-1).
• 13. Chapman, S., & Cowling, T. G. (1970). The mathematical theory of non-uniform gases: an account of the kinetic theory of viscosity, thermal conduction and diffusion in gases (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• 14. Dabbene, F., & Paillére, H. (2007). PARIS Benchmark Report. (CEA-Rapport DM2S – SMFE/LTMF/RT/07-003/A).
• 15. Gera, B., Sharma, P. K., Singh, R. K., & Vaze, K. K. (2011). CFD analysis of passive autocatalytic recombiner and its interaction with containment atmosphere. BARC Newsletter, Founder’s Day Special Issue.
• 16. AREVA Inc. (2011). AREVA passive autocatalytic recombiner. (Document No. G-008-V1PB-2011-ENG).

Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/nuka-2015-0050