(A) study on the effect of the CHF correlations to the LOCA analysis

Abstract

The critical heat flux (CHF)is a major parameter which determines the cooling performance and therefore the prediction of CHF is of importance for the design and safety analysis in boiling systems; such as nuclear reactors, conventional boilers, and other various two-phase flow systems. Until now, many CHF correlations have been developed and for the actual design a correlation has been selected in consideration of its characteristics. For the analysis of Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) in a Nuclear Power Plant, which shows the drastic parameters change during the system transient, a correlation having a reasonable degree of accuracy over a wide range is preferred, rather than that having accuracy for a specific range. It is required to have tangible insight about the effects of the CHF correlation to the LOCA analysis for the purpose of computer code development and nuclear regulation. The related research is further recommended. The purpose of this research is to obtain an insight and/or intuition about the above effect and to evaluate the selected CHF correlations. To achieve these purposes LOCA is analysed for the UL-JIN 3&4 nuclear power plant, the Korea Standard Type Nuclear Power Plant and the Loss of Flow Test (LOFT) L2-5 experiment is simulated using the RELAP5/MOD3.1 computer code for each selected CHF correlation. The selected correlations are the AECL-UO Lookup Table, adapted in RELAP5 code; the K110 CHF correlation, developed by KAERI; and the original W-3 CHF correlation, developed by L.S. Tong. LOFT is also simulated using the AECL-UO Lookup Table having the CHF multiplication factors 0.5 and 1.5, and then compared with the result of the original Lookup Table and the experiment result. In the LOCA analysis, the CHF correlations affect the magnitude of peak cladding temperatures, but does not seriously affect the occurrence points of time. The effect of each CHF correlation to the fuel cladding temperature behavior becomes apparent at the end of...