The Effect of the Channel Head on the Unsteady Pressure Pulsation Characteristics at the Inlet and Outlet of Reactor Coolant Pumps

• Published in: IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 32011 - 32020
• Main Authors: Yun, Long, Junlian, Yin, Dezhong, Wang, Yaoyu, Hu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.11.2016
• Subjects: Computational fluid dynamics; Computer applications; Coolant pumps; Flow coefficients; Flow rates; Flow velocity; Fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Hydrodynamics; Inflow; Inlet flow; Mathematical models; Nonuniformity; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear safety; Outlet flow; Pipes; Pressure; Pressure head; Pulsation; Pumps; Reactors; Safety engineering; Turbulence models; Water inflow
• ISSN: 1755-1307; 1755-1315
• DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/49/3/032011

In this paper, CFD approach was employed to analyse the inlet and outlet pressure pulsation characteristics of reactor coolant pumps with different inflows. The Reynolds- averaged Naiver-Stokes equations with the k- turbulence model were solved by the computational fluid dynamics software CFX to conduct the steady and unsteady numerical simulation. The numerical results of the straight pipe and channel head were validated with experimental data for the heads at different flow coefficients. In the nominal flow rate, the head of the pump with the channel head decreases by 1.19% when compared to the straight pipe. The channel head induces the inlet flow non-uniform, and the non-uniformity of the inflow induces the outlet flow of the pump with channel head different from that of the straight pipe. Meanwhile, the pressure pulsation signals are analysed using RMS, Standard Deviation and Peak-to-Peak Value method. At the points of the inlet and outlet, the pressure pulsation characteristics between the channel head and straight pipe are compared, and the difference is obviously. It is evident that the two different inflows of channel head and straight pipe have significant effect on the pump unsteady pressure pulsation. Finally, it is expected that the effects of non-uniform inflow on the pump performance and unsteady pressure pulsation are absolutely different from the uniform inflow. It is very important to provide accurate input conditions for the design and safety of the reactor.