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Title: Deep particle bed dryout model based on flooding

Conference · · Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6942577

Examination of the damaged Three Mile island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor indicates that a deep (approx. 1-m) bed of relatively large (approx. 1-mm) particles was formed in the core. Cooling of such beds is crucial to the arrest of core damage progression. The Lipinski model, based on flows in the bed, has been used to predict the coolability, but uncertainties exist in the turbulent permeability. Models based on flooding at the top of the bed either have a dimensional viscosity term, or no viscosity dependence, thus limiting their applicability. This paper presents a dimensionless correlation based on flooding data that involves a liquid Reynolds number. The derived dryout model from this correlation is compared with data for deep beds of large particles at atmospheric pressure, and with other models over a wide pressure range. It is concluded that the present model can give quite accurate predictions for the dryout heat flux of particle beds formed during a light water reactor accident and it is easy to use and agrees with the Lipinski n = 5 model, which requires iterative calculations.

OSTI ID:
6942577
Report Number(s):
CONF-8711195-; TRN: 88-033615
Journal Information:
Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States), Vol. 55; Conference: American Nuclear Society winter meeting, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 15 Nov 1987
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English