Countermeasure to prevent residence nitrogen gas in Pressurized Water Cooling System

Furusawa, Takayuki ; Saikusa, Akio ; Hamamoto, Shimpei  ; Nemoto, Takahiro; Shinohara, Masanori ; Isozaki, Minoru

In the HTTR rise-to-power test which was performed from April in 2000 as phase 1 up to 10MW, nitrogen gas remained in the air cooler which release the heat to atmosphere. This residence nitrogen gas causes the reduction of the thermal performance of the air cooler. So, it was impossible that heat generated reactor core could not remove when reactor operated full power operation. A mockup test was carried out to investigate the occurrence mechanism of the residence nitrogen gas. From a result of the mockup test, we clarified that the marked wave rise in the water pressurizer and the melting velocity of the nitrogen gas into the pressurized water is thought to be higher than expected. Therefore, we installed a hollow type plate, multi-hole type plate and so on in the water pressurizer. As a result, it was confirmed that no residence nitrogen gas in the air cooler during rise-to-power test and normal operation. Consequently, the hollow type plate and multi-hole type plate were effective for prevention of the residence nitrogen gas in the air cooler. This paper describes the results of the mockup test and the improvement of the water pressurizer.