Results of direct containment heating integral experiments at 1/40th scale at Argonne National Laboratory
A series of integral tests have been completed that investigate the effect of scale and containment atmosphere initial composition on Direct Containment Heating (DCH) phenomena at 1/40 linear scale. A portion of these experiments were performed as counterparts to integral experiments conducted at 1/10th linear scale at Sandia National Laboratories. The tests investigated DCH phenomena in a 1/40th scale mockup of Zion Nuclear Power Plant geometry. The test apparatus was a scaled down version of the SNL apparatus and included models of the reactor vessel lower head, containment cavity, instrument tunnel, lower subcompartment structures and the upper dome. A High Pressure Melt Ejection (HPME) was produced using steam as a blowdown gas and iron-alumina thermite with chromium as a core melt simulant. The results of the counterpart experiments indicated no effect of scale on debris/gas heat transfer and debris metal oxidation with steam. However, the tests indicated a slight effect of scale on hydrogen combustion, the results indicating slightly more efficient combustion with increasing scale. The experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of the subcompartment structures in trapping debris exiting the cavity and preventing it from reaching the upper dome. The test results also indicated that a 50% air -- 50% steam atmosphere prevented hydrogen combustion. However, a 50% air - 50% nitrogen did not prevent hydrogen combustion in a HPME with all other conditions being nominally the same.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 10188069
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/RE/CP-78893; CONF-931079-3; ON: DE93041175; TRN: 93:023958
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 21. water reactor safety information meeting,Bethesda, MD (United States),25-27 Oct 1993; Other Information: PBD: [1993]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS
TESTING
SCALE MODELS
CONTAINMENT
DESIGN BASIS ACCIDENTS
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
REACTOR SAFETY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
220900
210200
POWER REACTORS
NONBREEDING
LIGHT-WATER MODERATED
NONBOILING WATER COOLED