Corium droplet size in direct containment heating

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6818784

Sienicki, J J; Spencer, B W

For those light water reactor severe accident sequences in which molten corium is postulated to melt through the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) lower head at elevated primary system pressure and enter the cavity region beneath the vessel, the flow of corium from the RPV will be followed by a sustained high-pressure blowdown of steam and hydrogen through the breach remaining in the vessel. The gases flowing from the breached vessel constitute a source of driving forces capable of dispersing corium from the cavity as droplets into other parts of the containment. An important issue is the fraction of the dispersed corium thermal and chemical energy which may be transferred directly to the containment atmosphere. An important determinant of the extent of direct containment heating is the size of the corium droplets which are dispersed into the containment atmosphere. An analysis is presented here of the mass median droplet sizes in the Argonne National Laboratory CWTI-13 and CWTI-14 reactor material-direct containment heating experiments as well as the Sandia National Laboratory SPIT-19 thermite test. The observed median droplet diameters are shown to be in good agreement with a correlation for the drop size in ordinary annular flow, and a droplet size prediction is carried out for the reactor system.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL
• OSTI ID: 6818784
• Report Number(s): CONF-861102-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 53
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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