Condensation-induced waterhammer in a vertical upfill pipe
- Ontario Hydro, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
Waterhammer can be defined as a rapid pressure increase occurring in a piping system caused by a sudden change in the liquid velocity. A classic example is the pressure spike due to rapid closure of a valve. In nuclear power plants, as well as in conventional plants, there are other mechanisms for initiating waterhammer aside from valve closure. One of them is a steam bubble collapse in a pipe due to contact with subcooled water. This is condensation-induced waterhammer (CIWH). One of the important papers on CIWH is by Chou and Griffith. The tests were performed at a small driving force and consequently low waterhammer pressure spike ({approximately}70 kPa). To get experimental data for large driving forces and high waterhammer pressure spike ({approximately}10 MPa), a test facility has been built at Ontario Hydro Technologies (OHT). Funding for the work has been provided by the Ontario Hydro Darlington nuclear generating station. In these experiments, the subcooled water has been injected into saturated steam. The steam temperature ranged from 100 to 142{degrees}C. The experiments were initiated by quickly opening a ball valve. During the experimental program, significant data scatter was recorded. This data scatter was very large at high temperature (142{degrees}C). The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the main phenomena for CIWH, to define the reason for the data scatter, and to illustrate the results of implementation of the proposed mechanism into a thermal-hydraulic code.
- OSTI ID:
- 437018
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9606116-; ISSN 0003-018X; TRN: 96:005275-0257
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 74; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), Reno, NV (United States), 16-20 Jun 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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