Experiment Plan for the RVACS/RACS Air-Side Full-Scale Segment Tests in the ANL Natural Convection Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
The use of natural air circulation as a means of shutdown heat removal from a reactor vessel is an important feature of current LMR design concepts because it will effectively improve safety, lower plant costs, simplify plant operation, reduce construction time, and enhance plant licensability. The method of shutdown heat removal proposed in IFR/LMR designs utilizes a passive cooling system referred to as the Radiant Vessel Auxiliary Cooling System (RVACS or RACS), which rejects heat from the reactor by radiation and natural convection to air. The actual system consists of several concentric segments - the reactor vessel, the guard vessel, and the shell or duct wall. The Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) Shutdown Heat Removal Test Assembly simulates an air-sicte full-scale segment of the corresponding RVACS/RACS systems. The guard vessel and duct wall are simulated in the ANL Shutdown Heat Removal Test Assembly by two parallel plates, which are quite prototypic of the corresponding system because in the actual RVACS system R » h, where R represents the radius of the guard vessel, and h represents the air gap between the guard vessel and the duct wall. Consequently, there exists geometric and kinematic similitude between the RVACS/RACS models and the ANL prototype, which means that the velocity profiles of the corresponding system are proportional in magnitude and identical in orientation. Hence, heat flux patterns are expected to be representative of the corresponding system. The test assembly consists basically of a 5-ft. by 1-ft. rectangular duct system about 86-ft. in overall length, which has an entrance region - 5-ft. in length, a heated section ~ 22-ft. in length, and an outlet duct system and exit stack ~ 59-ft. in length. It is sufficiently instrumented to measure and record local wall and air temperatures, velocity profiles, surface emissivity, and conduction, radiation, and convective heat fluxes at various elevations. Heating of the simulated guard vessel wall is achieved with an array of 200 ceramic plate electric heaters. The computer-controlled heating system is designed to operate in two modes - constant temperature control mode, which is capable of independently controlling the ten 2-ft. high by 5-ft. wide zones of the guard vessel at any constant temperature up to 1000° F, and constant heat flux control mode, which is capable of independent constant at flux control of the ten zones for heat fluxes up to 2.0 kw/ft. An experiment plan for the RVACS air-side full-scale segment tests in the ANL Shutdown Heat Removal Test Assembly has been developed and is presented herein. It should be noted that, although this initial plan is oriented toward the characterization of the RVACS (GE-PRISM) performance, the major facility components and procedures have been designed to accommodate variations in guard vessel/collector wall configurations to simulate other passive heat removal designs. For example, near-term planning is in progress to install fins on the collector wall to simulate the RACS (RI-SAFR) concept following the completion of the RVACS experiments. The intention of this document is to supply basic information about the test plan, and to that extent it will: 1. briefly review the nature and purpose of the ANL RVACS/RACS test program, 2. define the test objectives, conditions, and requirements, and 3. describe the experimental hardware, computer control and DAS, planned test performance operations, quality assurance, safety considerations, documentation, and project organization. The results of the test data analyses will be promptly assessed and reported in accord with program requirements.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1524163
- Report Number(s):
- ANL-PRISM-42; ANL-SAFR-40; 152476
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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