(A) three-region model for tracking a two-phase mixture water level in the micro-simulator

Abstract

A simplified one-dimensional three-region model is developed to predict two-phase mixture and subcooled levels in vertical and horizontal channels during the loss of coolant accidents and to satisfy the requirement of the capability of real-time computation in the micro-simulator. The present model treats a physical component as one node which is divided into three sub-regions by thermal-hydraulic conditions: subcooled region, mixture region, and steam dome region. The bubble rise model and the drift-flux model concept are used to account for the mass and energy transfer between the mixture region and the steam dome region. The conservation equations of mass, energy, and momentum are derived based on the two-fluid model. Especially, the volumes of the subcooled region and the mixture region are adopted as principal unknowns and incorporated in the governing equations. The area change at the junction is modeled in the momentum equation. The non-linear difference equations of mass, energy, and momentum for the three regions are numerically solved by the Implicit Coulant Eulerian (ICE) method similar to that used in advanced safety codes such as TRAC and RELAP5. The proposed model is tested through the comparison of its simulation results with the experimental data of Edwards and O`` Brien pipe blodwdown test, GE small vessel blowdown tests, Marviken tests, and 336-rod bundle test in order to confirm its capability of fast calculation but reasonable accuracy. The computation time by RELAP5/MOD3 is up to around 50 times longer than that by the proposed model when the Marviken tests are simulated. The predictions with Bertodanoi``s correlation for the drift velocity in the blowdown tests and with the correlation of Ishii et. al. in the 336-rod bundle test are in best agreement with the test data, respectively. A WS-based real-time simulator for two-loop pressurized water reactor plants, also, is developed for classroom training in support of full-support simulator, ...