Pressure suppression containment system for boiling water reactor

Patent · 31 December 1996

OSTI ID:870799

Gluntz, Douglas M ^[1]; Nesbitt, Loyd B ^[1]

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1. San Jose, CA

A system for suppressing the pressure inside the containment of a BWR following a postulated accident. A piping subsystem is provided which features a main process pipe that communicates the wetwell airspace to a connection point downstream of the guard charcoal bed in an offgas system and upstream of the main bank of delay charcoal beds which give extensive holdup to offgases. The main process pipe is fitted with both inboard and outboard containment isolation valves. Also incorporated in the main process pipe is a low-differential-pressure rupture disk which prevents any gas outflow in this piping whatsoever until or unless rupture occurs by virtue of pressure inside this main process pipe on the wetwell airspace side of the disk exceeding the design opening (rupture) pressure differential. The charcoal holds up the radioactive species in the noncondensable gas from the wetwell plenum by adsorption, allowing time for radioactive decay before the gas is vented to the environs.

• Research Organization: General Electric Co
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-90SF18494
• Assignee: General Electric Company (San Jose, CA)
• Patent Number(s): US 5596613
• OSTI ID: 870799
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

/376/
accident
active species
adsorption
airspace
allowing
bank
bed
beds
boiling
boiling water
bwr
charcoal
coal bed
coal beds
communicates
connection
containment
decay
delay
design
differential
disk
downstream
environs
exceeding
extensive
features
fitted
following
gas
guard
holds
holdup
inboard
incorporated
inside
isolation
isolation valve
low-differential-pressure
main
main process
noncondensable
noncondensable gas
occurs
offgas
offgases
outboard
outflow
pipe
piping
plenum
postulated
pressure
pressure differential
pressure inside
pressure suppression
prevents
process
provided
radioactive
radioactive decay
radioactive species
reactor
rupture
species
subsystem
suppressing
suppression
suppression containment
time
unless
upstream
valves
vented
virtue
water
water reactor
wetwell
whatsoever