ANALYSIS OF THE THERMOHYDRAULIC BEHAVIOR OF THE NEW TEXAS A&M RCCS EXPERMINENTAL FACILITY USING RELAP5-3D
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The Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS) is one of the new safety systems designed for the next generation of nuclear power plants which will be incorporated into proposed reactor designs for the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR). The new RCCS experimental facility at Texas A&M University was conceived to observe, study and investigate the complex thermohydraulic phenomena taking place in the Reactor Cooling Cavity System during an accident scenario when forced convection is lost. A set of simulations using RELAP5-3D was carried out to predict the main thermohydraulic parameters, such as water and wall temperatures, cavity air temperature, flow regimes of water in the standpipes and in the water tank and the overall time response of the system. These predictions were used to provide a clearer picture of the phenomena that will be observed during the experimental session, to confirm the hand calculations made during the scaling of the facility from the full scale plant, and to refine and optimize the facility's configuration and instrumentation layout. The purpose of this paper is threefold: to show the concepts and the techniques adopted to create the RELAP5-3D hydrodynamic model, the assumptions and methods used to optimize the heat transfer mechanism model and the sensitivity analysis carried out in order to improve the code prediction of particular expected phenomena, such as water flashing and liquid recirculation. The main simulation results will be presented with an emphasis on the flow instability, typical of flows through parallel heated channels.
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ICONE 19, 19th International Conference of Nuclear Engineering
