Free outflow from the end of a horizontal circular pipe related to flow from the PWR cold leg to the downcomer

Satou, Akira ; Hibiki, Takashi*; Ikeda, Ryo ; Shibamoto, Yasuteru 

During a loss-of-coolant accident in a pressurized water reactor (PWR), there is a risk that pressurized thermal shock (PTS) may occur on the internal wall of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) due to the flow of emergency core cooling (ECC) water injected into the cold leg that flows into the downcomer. PTS is caused by the rapid cooling of the downcomer wall by the ECC water and is strongly influenced by the temperature of the ECC water, the collision position and velocity of the water jet on the wall, the velocity of the liquid film on the wall, the thickness of the liquid film, and the spread of the downward flow. Therefore, the flow of ECC water discharging from the cold leg to the downcomer may strongly impact PTS events. To help understand this flow phenomenon, we reviewed studies on free outflow from a circular pipe. Experimental findings on the classification of flow conditions, transition conditions between flow conditions, end depth ratio, free surface profile of flow in the circular pipe, and shape of the nappe flowing out from the pipe have been obtained in a form that is almost consistent with each other. In contrast, when considering the flow from the cold leg to the downcomer, it is necessary to deal with the flow field in a specific situation, such as the flow into a narrow gap rather than a free space, the existence of rounded corners at the outlet of the circular pipe, and the influence of steam flow flowing from the core to the cold leg. However, few previous studies consider these factors, so we summarized them as knowledge that needs to be accumulated in the future.