XXIV ICTAM, 21-26 August 2016, Montreal, Canada

TRANSIENT FLUID PHENOMENA DURING A RAPID TWO-PHASE DEPRESSURISATION

Ouajih Hamouda1a), David S. Weaver1 & Jovica Riznic2

1
Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
2
Operational Engineering Assessment, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Abstract Experiments were carried out using a custom-built facility to determine the loading on a model nuclear steam generator tube array
during a simulated Main Steam Line Break accident. The working fluid was refrigerant R-134a. Measurements were taken of temperature and
pressure during the fluid transient and high-speed videos from synchronised cameras were used to help understand the related flow physics.
Sudden depressurisation was created using a rupture disc that opened fully in a few milliseconds. Parametric studies were undertaken to
investigate the effects of varying initial conditions and liquid levels. The results provide valuable insights into the two-phase flow physics
during such an event and have significant potential for benchmarking numerical code development as well as predicting tube loading.

INTRODUCTION

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of two-phase flow transients following sudden depressurisation
from a pressurised subcooled liquid state. While the overall purpose of the research was to determine the fluid loading on
the U-bend tubes of a nuclear steam generator during a simulated Main Steam Line Break (MSLB), an understanding of the
physics of the fluid transient phenomena must first be developed. Indeed, such an understanding is useful for a wide range
of applications including the design of boilers, refrigeration systems, desalination equipment, cryogenic systems, the
transfer and storage of liquefied gases, and pressurised water nuclear reactors. The authors are unaware of any similar
thorough experimental investigations of the relevant phenomena published in the open literature.

EXPERIMENTS

The present experiments were carried out using R-134a which, for the present purposes, scales well with steam-water
transients. The experimental rig consists of a vertical 15.2 cm diameter pipe reservoir that contains quiescent pressurised
liquid, a test section that contains the model tube array, a rupture disc that produces the sudden depressurisation upon
opening, and a downstream vacuum reservoir of sufficient volume that the downstream increase in pressure during the
transient has no effect on the results. The rupture disc opens in a couple of milliseconds and presents no obstruction to the
flow after rupture. The vertical rig is shown schematically at the right side of Fig. 1 without the large vacuum tank at the
downstream pipe exit. Each experiment consisted of drawing the rig down to a vacuum upstream and downstream of the
rupture disc, charging the liquid reservoir to the desired volume and pressure, initiating the transient, and monitoring the
dynamic temperatures and pressures at the 3 axial locations on the pipe as numbered in Fig. 1. All instruments were
carefully validated, calibrated and synchronised. High-speed videos from two synchronised cameras above and below the
test section permitted visualisation of the flow to assist in understanding the flow physics. Parametric studies were carried
out to study the effects of varying the initial liquid volume and its free surface level relative to the tube bundle.

Overview of experimental results

The research objective was to provide a unique and reliable dataset and to perform analysis that supports the major two-
phase fluid phenomena observed. The accurate inclusion of two-phase fluid effects in numerical simulations is one of the
main areas for improvement in present
computational modelling tools. The
rapid depressurisation process is
initialised by the propagation of a
rarefaction wave from the point of disc
rupture. The fluid is subsequently
depressurised and transitions into a
superheated metastable state, which
triggers an extremely rapid boiling
process.
A sample set of pressures measured
in a typical experiment is presented in
Fig. 1. In the first 10 ms, a pressure
wave propagates rapidly at the speed of
sound. The arrival of the wave is
recorded at different times because of
Figure 1. Sample fluid pressures measured during a transient experiment
a)
Corresponding author. Email: hamoudo@mcmaster.ca
the locations of the pressure sensors
relative to the rupture disc. This is
followed by a period of vigorous
phase transition in which the ratio of
vapour-to-liquid in the pressure
vessel increases rapidly. At the same
time, the two-phase fluid mixture is
discharged through the open rupture
disc due to the pressure difference
between the pipe and the downstream
Figure 2. High-speed flow visualisation sequence of bubble growth – 50 ms time step, 10 mm grid
vacuum tank. A quasi-steady choked
flow condition is established beginning at about 100 ms. At about 600 ms, the pressures everywhere in the system begin to
equalise until equilibrium conditions are established, signalling the end of the transient. Around 1 second following the
opening of the rupture disc, the 14 litre liquid inventory is essentially completely boiled off.
The specific details of the initial wave propagation behaviour depend on the initial liquid level in the pressure vessel.
Wave velocity measurements indicated that the tube bundle had no discernible influence on wave propagation. The two-
phase mixture accelerates rapidly towards the discharge plane. The velocity of the accelerating front was traced using high-
speed images and pressure signals. Since the pressure ratio between the upstream pipe and the vacuum reservoir is very
high, the flow becomes choked in the early stages of the transient. This critical flow condition establishes the maximum
possible discharge mass flow rate. The velocity was found to approach the single-phase vapour speed of sound at higher
void fractions.
The initial rapid depressurisation of the liquid proceeds to a minimum pressure that is lower than the initial saturation
pressure, as shown at about 9 ms in Fig. 1. Following this point, the pressure recovers to a pressure amplitude that typically
remains steady for the next several hundred milliseconds. The recovery in the pressure amplitude is caused by rapid
expansion and growth of the vapour phase. An analysis of the transient thermal phenomena was made possible by
measurements from fast response thermocouples. The expected equilibrium saturation temperatures computed from local
pressure measurements were compared to the measured transient temperatures. The results indicated a significant amount of
thermal non-equilibrium between the liquid and vapour phases. The liquid was observed to remain in a prolonged
superheated state, whereas the vapour temperatures rapidly dropped towards saturated thermodynamic conditions.
Flow pattern visualisations provided interesting insights into the physical mechanisms of phase transition, vapour
growth, and transient fluid regime development. A sample image sequence of the rapid vapour growth filmed is shown in
Fig. 2. The images show that the generation of vapour occurs mainly at the solid-liquid pipe wall boundaries. The vapour
that is generated grows radially into the liquid bulk and rises upwards towards the vacuum reservoir. The bubble velocities
and growth rates were significantly under-predicted by theoretical pool boiling models.
The pressure amplitude during the transient is determined by the net effect of the rate of vapour generation, which
produces an increase in pressure, and the rate of fluid discharge, which results in a decrease in pressure. The effects of the
initial conditions were found to be as follows. The rate of phase transition and the amplitude of pressure recovery in these
experiments were mainly influenced by the rate and mechanism of vapour generation. Larger initial interfacial surface area
between the two phases resulted in greater heat and mass transfer, which promoted faster phase transitions and higher
pressures. The volume of liquid in the pipe determines to a certain extent the transient pressure amplitudes and the duration
of the discharge. When the initial liquid inventory is smaller, less vapour is generated, and the overall pressure amplitudes
are lower. Smaller liquid inventories also produce shorter transients. The inclusion of the tube bundle restricted the rate of
fluid discharge, resulting in smaller departures from non-equilibrium conditions compared to full-bore pipe transients.

CONCLUSIONS

The general two-phase flow phenomena can be summarised as follows. The initial rapid transient stages directly following
the sudden pressure release are dominated by unsteady acoustic phenomena. Significant liquid flashing to vapour develops a few
milliseconds later and the mass flow rate of the discharging fluid increases rapidly. This is a period of strong thermodynamic
non-equilibrium. Subsequently, the upstream pressure stabilises and remains steady for a few hundred milliseconds, which
indicates that the two-phase flow is choked during this time. The duration of this quasi-steady discharge stage depends strongly
on the initial liquid level in the reservoir and the restriction to the flow imposed by the tube bundle in the test section. The
upstream pressure tapers off when the liquid inventory is reduced sufficiently that the pressure level cannot be maintained by
vapour generation. The results of this study provide a basic understanding of the transient flow physics during a rapid
depressurisation such as caused by a MSLB, generate the data required for related numerical code development, as well as create
the basis for predicting the steam generator tube loading during such an event.