Recent experimental and analytical results of BNL direct containment heating programs

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:7011258

Ginsberg, T; Tutu, N K

The direct containment heating (DCH) scenario involves high-pressure ejection of molten core material from the reactor vessel into the region beneath the vessel and into various subcompartments of the containment building. The stored energy in the melt consists of the sensible energy of melt and the chemical reaction energy of the various components assuming that they can react with either the oxygen or the steam within containment. The metallic phase may first react with steam, if local conditions permit, and thereby produce hydrogen. The hydrogen may then burn at some later time at a different location. In order to predict the containment response, one must follow the melt through the various subcompartments of the containment building, while computing the integrated release of energy from the melt to the containment atmosphere and the quantity of hydrogen produced during the time period that the melt is suspended. The BNL research program in the area of direct containment heating is directed towards the development of a methodology to predict the hydrodynamic, chemical and thermal interactions which could take place in three regions of PWR containment buildings: the reactor cavity, the intermediate compartments (e.g., steam generator room) and the containment dome. Separate effects, scaled experiments are performed related to selected aspects of the DCH problem, and analytical models are developed to characterize the relevant phenomena.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA); Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 7011258
• Report Number(s): BNL-NUREG-39056; CONF-8610135-42; ON: TI87004178
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUID MECHANICS
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