Numerical simulation of the operational characteristics of air-cooled PRHR under SBO accidents

•An air cooling type PRHR of the nuclear heating reactor is discussed.•A method how to model an air cooler is proposed based on the conservation equation and empirical relationship.•The inlet temperature of air tower has little influence on the heat transfer coefficient of air cooler.•The air coolin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nuclear engineering and design 2023-12, Vol.414, p.112629, Article 112629
Main Authors: Zhidong, Yue, Wei, Cai, Ting, Wei, Xiao, Ke, Wenhu, Chen, Ying, Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air cooler
PRHR
RELAP5
SBO
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Summary:•An air cooling type PRHR of the nuclear heating reactor is discussed.•A method how to model an air cooler is proposed based on the conservation equation and empirical relationship.•The inlet temperature of air tower has little influence on the heat transfer coefficient of air cooler.•The air cooling type PRHRS can transfer the core residual heat timely and continuously.•There is a time delay of the heat exchanger power between the MHX and air cooler caused by the temperature distribution. In this paper, the operational characteristics of air-cooled type passive residual heat removal (PRHR) system of the nuclear heating reactor are studied with RELAP5 code. The PRHR uses the air natural circulation which can transfer heat directly from the reactor vessel to the air, and its heat transfer process is particularly important for the reactor safety. However, the current thermal–hydraulic code lacks the relevant air cooler model. A method how to model an air cooler is proposed based on the conservation equation and can be widely applied to different situations. Moreover, the operating characteristics of air cooling tower and the transient thermal–hydraulic characteristics of station blackout (SBO) event have been analyzed. The results show that the heat transfer coefficient of air cooler increases with the heat transfer power, and the inlet temperature has little influence on the heat transfer coefficient. The air cooling type PRHRS can transfer the core residual heat timely and continuously. There is a time delay of the heat exchanger power between the main heat exchanger and air cooler caused by the temperature distribution.
ISSN:0029-5493
1872-759X
DOI:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112629