Analysis on non uniform flow in steam generator during steady state natural circulation cooling

Susyadi; Yonomoto, Taisuke 

Steady-state natural circulation (NC) in the PWR was investigated focusing on non uniform flow among steam generator (SG) U-tubes observed in the ROSA/LSTF experiments. In the analysis using the RELAP5/MOD3 code, the SG behavior was analyzed using the partial SG model with one, five, or nine parallel flow paths in the primary side and boundary conditions based on the experiments. The results showed that simulations using the model with five or nine tubes were capable to capture important non uniform phenomena such as reverse flow, fill and dump and stagnant vertical stratification, and the stable SG outlet flow as observed in the experiments. Heat transfer rates to the secondary side were, however, underpredicted by up to 15%. Furthermore, difficulties were found in establishing the steady state condition especially for the low pressure analysis: only when the inlet flow rate was carefully imposed, stable NC behavior was obtained.