Unsteady Simulation on Flow Characteristics of Steam Jet Condensed Into Subcooled Water

Abstract

Steam jet condensation through sonic nozzle in quiescent subcooled water pool is important for the safety of nuclear reactor system. In this study, the dynamic process of stable condensation jet steam plume is obtained by numerical simulation method. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results. The flow field results indicate that two typical fluctuation regimes exist in the dynamic process of steam plume. Simultaneous analysis of pressure and flow field indicates that two fluctuation regimes produce different pressure pulses. When the detachment phenomenon occurs during the fluctuation of the steam plume, a pressure pulse which value is clearly greater than 220 kPa is generated. When the plume sharply contracts without obvious detachment phenomenon during the fluctuation process, a pressure pulse which value is almost lower than 120 kPa is generated.