Theoretical study of steam condensation induced water hammer phenomena in horizontal pipelines

Abstract

AbstractSteam condensation induced water hammer (CIWH) phenomena are investigated and new theoretical results are presented. We use the WAHA3 model based on two-phase flow six first-order partial differential equations that present one dimensional, surface averaged mass, momentum and energy balances. A second order accurate high-resolution shock-capturing numerical scheme was applied with different kind of limiters in the numerical calculations. The applied two-fluid model shows some similarities to RELAP5 which is widely used in the nuclear industry to simulate nuclear power plant accidents. This model was validated with different CIWH experiments which were performed in the PMK-2 facility, which is a full-pressure thermohydraulic model of the nuclear power plant of VVER-440/312 type in the Energy Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and in the Rosa facility of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. In our present study we show the first part of a planned large database which will give us the upper and lower flooding mass flow rates for various pipe geometries where CIWH can happen. Such a reliable database would be a great help for future reactor constructions and scheming.