Studying the operation of a VVER steam generator in the condensing mode at different parameters of emergency processes

Abstract

The article presents the results of the experimental study of heat and mass transfer processes in an NPP steam generator during the operation of passive safety systems of new-generation VVER reactor installations. At the GE2M-PG test rig in the Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering, two series of experiments corresponding to different stages of the accident were completed. In these experiments, the performance of VVER steam generator in the condensing mode with and without the removal of gas-vapor mixture from the “cold” header has been studied. As a result of the first series of experiments, it was found that, for any of the parameters of the emergency process, the steam generator’s power does not drop below 80% of the original value. Furthermore, we revealed that the composition and physical properties of gases in the investigated concentration range did not notably affect the processes in the steam generator. In the second series of experiments without removal of noncondensable gases, the influence of parameters of the emergency process on the efficiency of heat transfer in the steam generator operating in the condensing mode was investigated. In order to study the heat transfer processes, we studied the change of the temperature difference between the media of the first and second circuits in our experiments. We found that the value of the temperature difference depends on both the mass of noncondensable gases accumulated in the tube bundle and their accumulation rate. The accumulation rate is determined by the power of the steam generator and the concentration of gases entering the steam generator. As a result of the analysis of experimental data, we obtained the analytical dependence reflecting change in the power of the steam generator operating in the emergency condensing mode.