Modeling of thermophoretic deposition of aerosols in nuclear reactor containments

Journal Article · Sun Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1996 · Nuclear Technology

OSTI ID:418080

Fernandes, A; Loyalka, S K ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)

Aerosol released in postulated or real nuclear reactor accidents can deposit on containment surfaces via motion induced by temperature gradients in addition to the motion due to diffusion and gravity. The deposition due to temperature gradients is known as thermophoretic deposition, and it is currently modeled in codes such as CONTAIN in direct analogy with heat transfer, but there have been questions about such analogies. This paper focuses on a numerical solution of the particle continuity equation in laminar flow condition characteristics of natural convection. First, the thermophoretic deposition rate is calculated as a function of the Prandtl and Schmidt numbers, the thermophoretic coefficient K, and the temperature difference between the atmosphere and the wall. Then, the cases of diffusion alone and a boundary-layer approximation (due to Batchelor and Shen) to the full continuity equation are considered. It is noted that an analogy with heat transfer does not hold, but for the circumstances considered in this paper, the deposition rates from the diffusion solution and the boundary-layer approximation can be added to provide reasonably good agreement (maximum deviation 30%) with the full solution of the particle continuity equation. Finally, correlations useful for implementation in the reactor source term codes are provided.

• OSTI ID: 418080
• Journal Information: Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 116; ISSN 0029-5450; ISSN NUTYBB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
C CODES
CONTAINMENT BUILDINGS
DEPOSITION
RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
SOURCE TERMS
THERMOPHORESIS