Development of Effective Momentum Model for Steam Injection Through Multi-Hole Spargers Using a Condensation Region Approach

Abstract

The Pressure Suppression Pool (PSP) in a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) is served as a heat sink to prevent containment over-pressure. The steam can be injected through the multi-hole spargers. The development of thermal stratification where a thermocline with a large temperature gradient appears in the pool can lead to the higher pressure in the dry well compared with completely mixing pool conditions. Prediction of the thermal phenomenon in the pool is necessary for the support of system design and operation. Thus, the Effective Heat Source (EHS) and Effective Momentum Source (EMS) models have been proposed. The models can be applied to CFD code by using (i) source terms in the transport equations or (ii) using respective boundary conditions at the Steam Condensation Region (SCR). Previous validation against PPOOLEX and PANDA tests using the source terms approach faced challenges in momentum distribution. Therefore, a preliminary investigation of using the second method was performed. The encouraging results implied that it is possible to further develop this approach. The goal of this work is to further develop the EHS/EMS models for the steam injection through a multi-hole sparger through the SCR model (i.e approach (ii)) and to validate it against the experimental data obtained from PANDA HP5 tests. Modeling guidelines are proposed. The temperature evolutions and vertical velocity profiles of these tests are compared to the simulation results. The agreement suggests that this model can provide an adequate estimation of the pool behavior.