ISSN 0040-6015, Thermal Engineering, 2017, Vol. 64, No. 7, pp. 490–495. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2017.

Original Russian Text © A.V. Morozov, A.P. Sorokin, S.V. Ragulin, A.V. Pityk, A.R. Sahipgareev, A.S. Soshkina, A.S. Shlepkin, 2017, published in Teploenergetika.

NUCLEAR POWER
STATIONS

Effect of Boric Acid Mass Transfer on the Accumulation

Thereof in a Fuel Core under Emergency Modes at NPPs with WMR
A. V. Morozov*, A. P. Sorokin, S. V. Ragulin, A. V. Pityk, A. R. Sahipgareev,
A. S. Soshkina, and A. S. Shlepkin
State Scientific Research Center, Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering,
Obninsk, Kaluga oblast, 249033 Russia
*e-mail: sas@ippe.ru
Received July 18, 2016; in final form, November 23, 2016

Abstract⎯Boric acid mass transfer processes in the reactor facilities with WMR are considered for the case
of an emergency with breaking of the main circulation pipeline (MCP) and the operation of the passive safety
systems, such as first-, second-, and third-stage accumulator tank systems, and a passive heat removal system
(PHRS). Calculation results are presented for a change in the boric acid concentration in the fuel core (FC)
of a water-moderated reactor (WMR) in the case of an emergency process. The calculations have been per-
formed for different values of drop entrainment of boric acid from the reactor (0, 0.2, 2%). A substantial
excess of the maximum concentration of boric acid has been found to occur 24 hours after an emergency event
with a break of MCP. It is shown that increasing the droplet entrainment of boric acid causes the crystalliza-
tion and accumulation thereof in the FC to become slower. The mass of boric acid deposits on the elements
of internals is determined depending on the values of drop entrainment. These results allow one to draw a
conclusion concerning the possibility of accumulation and crystallization of boric acid in the FC, because the
latter event could lead to a blocking of the flow cross section and disturbance in the heat removal from fuel
elements. A review of available literature data concerning the thermal properties of boric acid solution (den-
sity, viscosity, thermal conductivity) is presented. It is found that the available data are of quite a general char-
acter, but it does not cover the entire range of parameters (temperature, pressure, acid concentrations) inher-
ent in a possible emergency situation at nuclear power plants with WMR. It is demonstrated that experimental
study of boric acid drop entrainment at the parameters inherent in the emergency mode of WMR operation,
as well as the studies of boric acid thermal properties in a wide range of concentrations, are required.

Keywords: WMR, emergency mode, fuel core cooling, boric acid, droplet entrainment, accumulation
DOI: 10.1134/S0040601517070047

INTRODUCTION
In the case of an emergency with a break of MCP,
the operation of passive safety systems provides the
cooling of the reactor’s FC by feeding thereto a solution
of boric acid at a concentration of 16 g/kg from the
accumulator tank of the system of passive FC flood. As
a part of the NPP-2006 project, the heat removal from
the FC should be carried out within 24 hours as a result
of the operation of the first-stage accumulator tank
(AT-1) and the second-stage one (AT-2) [1–3].
According to the concept for power-generating unit
safeguarding adopted in the WMR-TOI project, using
accumulator tanks at the third stage (AT-3) should pro-
mote the maintenance of the heat-carrier level in the
reactor FC during an emergency beyond design (with
leaking first circuit and a failure of active safety systems)
after the exhaustion of the stock solution of boric acid in
the AT-2 within an additional 48 hours from the begin-
ning of an emergency event. Taking into account the
duration of the process, the boiling of a heat-transfer
agent and a low content of boric acid in the vapor phase,
one can talk about the possibility of accumulation and
subsequent crystallization of boric acid on the elements
of reactor internals. Such a phenomenon can lead to a
significant deterioration of heat removal, which could
result in a decrease in feeding the heat-carrier flow
into the FC, and there could occur even a complete
cessation of heat-carrier supply to the FC in the case
of blocked flow passage section. The removal of boric
acid from the FC with steam or due to a droplet
entrainment can significantly reduce the risk of crys-
tallization. Consequently, studying the processes of
boric acid carryover from the FC has a great practical
significance for the calculation of emergency opera-
tion at nuclear power plants with a new generation of
water-cooled reactors equipped with passive safety
systems. Furthermore, it should be noted that the
results of the calculations are influenced by such ther-
mophysical properties of boric acid as density, viscos-
ity and thermal conductivity.

490
 EFFECT OF BORIC ACID MASS TRANSFER ON THE ACCUMULATION
MASS TRANSFER OF BORIC ACID
SOLUTIONS IN THE REACTORS WITH WMR
IN EMERGENCY WITH BREAKING MCP
The scheme of mass-and-energy flow movement
under emergency conditions at an NPP with WMR is
shown in Fig. 1. In the case of MCP breaking, a
sequential operation of AT-1, AT-2, and AT-3 systems
occurs, which provide the supply of boric acid with an
initial temperature of approximately 50°C into the
reactor FC. Alongside with the solution of boric acid,
entering the reactor from the accumulator tanks of pas-
sive safety systems, in approximately 1.5 hours (5400 s)
after an emergency, the steam generators of three
nonemergency loops, as a result of PHRS operation,
start to supply a condensate into the FC, with a satu-
ration temperature corresponding to the pressure in
the first loop. If the flow rate of “cold” boric acid
solution coming from the AT-2 and AT-3 is not suffi-
cient to provide natural convection in the downtake
channel of the reactor, the mixing of the condensate
with the flows of boric acid solution is absent. Then,
because of a higher density, the boric acid solution
lowers to the bottom part of the FC. Above this layer,
there occurs an accumulation of condensate with a
low concentration of acid. Subsequently, the excess
condensate further flows in a leak. Thus, the concen-
tration of boric acid in the bottom part of the FC
would increase and, hence, conditions for its crystalli-
zation should occur.
Taking into account the evaporation caused by the
boiling of the heat-carrier in the reactor’s FC, it is
expected that the concentration of boric acid solution in
the bottom part of the FC will increase until reaching
the values corresponding to the solubility limit. The fur-
ther decrease in the water content in the liquid phase of
the acid would lead to the crystallization of the latter on
the surface of reactor internals, which, in turn, could
cause FC melting owing to the blocking of the flow pas-
sage section and heat-exchange deterioration.
To evaluate the possibility of such a scenario in the
WMR fuel core, we calculated the boric acid accumu-
lation dynamics in the reactor under emergency con-
ditions.
CALCULATION OF BORIC ACID
ACCUMULATION IN WMR
UNDER EMERGENCY CONDITIONS
In calculations, we made a number of assumptions
connected either with the complexity of the processes
occurring in the loop or with an insufficiency of infor-
mation about the properties of the aqueous solutions
of boric acid:
(1) Under calculations, the volume of the FC and
the volume of the reactor pressure chamber (RPC)
were separated in the system;
(2) The properties of boric acid solution in the FC
and RPC are the same throughout the entire volume;
THERMAL ENGINEERING Vol. 64 No. 7 2017
491
1
QAT QAT
QPHRS QPHRS
Qr Qr 2
QCB
Qr Qr
QAT QAT
steam 3
condensate
boric acid
solution
4
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the movement of mass and
heat flows in WMR in the course of emergency events with
MCP breaking: (1) perforation of the reactor cavity;
(2) separation collar; (3) pipe of the emergency cooling
system of the fuel core; (4) FC. Qr is the energy released in
the reactor; QCB is the energy coming through a leak to the
containment building; QAT is the fraction of energy
removed from the FC with the liquid of accumulator tanks;
QPHRS is a part of energy removed with the steam for the
condensation in the steam generator as a result of heat
exchange in the PHRS.
(3) the level of boric acid solution coincides with
the height of the location of a broken MCP pipe;
(4) The density of boric acid solution does not
depend on the concentration;
(5) In the reactor, a pure water vapor is formed with
no admixture of boric acid;
(6) By means of the droplet entrainment, the solu-
tion of boric acid is carried from the FC to the RPC
and does not enter the steam generators that operate in
a condensation mode;
(7) The whole amount of water flowing into the FC
and RPC has a saturation temperature;
(8) The system pressure is kept constant mounting to
0.3 MPa in the course of the entire emergency process;
(9) The whole amount of boric acid that was orig-
inally located in the first circuit and the boric acid
that entered the reactor from the accumulator tank
system AT-1 during the first minutes after the emer-
gency beginning is carried into the containment
building (CB).
In the calculation, we took that the nominal power
of the reactor to be 3.2 × 103 MW. Depending on the
time, τ, elapsed after the reactor shutdown, the reac-
492 MOROZOV et al.

Parameters of passive-flood accumulator tank systems in the fuel core of WMR

Parameter AT-2 AT-3
Boric acid concentration, g/dm3; 16 16
Total volume of water, ; m3 960 720
Mass of boric acid that entered the reactor, t 15.35 11.52
Operation duration at a preset flow rate, s 100–5430 5431–10860 10861–29 000 29 001–86 400 86 401–259200
Mass flow rate of boric acid solution for one 10.0 5.0 3.3 1.6 1.6
channel, kg/s

tor’s residual heat release in the FC (NFC) changes as The FC steam-and-water mixture that contains
it follows: steam and the drops of boric acid solution exits and is
replaced with boric acid solution coming from the RPC:
τ, 103 s 0.1 1.0 10.0 28.8 37.8 50.0
NBC, 10–3 a.u. 33.1 20.6 10.5 7.7 7.2 6.7 G12 = G N + G re. (2)
τ, 103 s 100.0 129.6 500 1469 2160
Based on this, we can calculate a change in the mass
NBC, 10–3 a.u. 5.5 5.3 3.3 2.2 1.8
of boric acid (ΔmFBC ) in the FC for a time interval Δτ:
As the initial data for the calculation, we used the
parameters of passive-flood systems accumulator tank B
Δ mFC = (G12C RPC − G reC FC )Δτ,
systems AT-2 and AT-3 (see table).
The values that characterize changing in the con- where СRPC, СFC is the concentration of boric acid
densing power of steam generators, NPHRS kW, were solution in RPC and FC, respectively.
obtained based on the results of experimental studies As mentioned above, the boric acid solution should
on a large-scale stand at IPPE [4]: flow from the RPC to the FC as to a communicating
vessel, with a flow rate G12, and the excess solution in
−4
⎧ 144.8 − 5.885 × 10 τ the reactor FC should spill over through the broken
⎪ MCP into the heat-shielding shell. Based on this, we
N PHRS
⎪
=⎨ + 3.499 × 10 −9 τ 2   at  τ ≤ 86 400; can determine the mass flow rate GCB, and the excess
⎪ 7.619 × 10  
4 solution in the reactor FC should spill over through the
⎪⎩− 131.25 + τ
at τ > 86 400, broken MCP into heat-shielding shell. Based on this,
we can determine the mass flow rate Δ mRPC
B
for time Δτ:
where τ is time, s.
G CB = G AT + G PHRS + G re − G N ;
As the water heated in the FC to the saturation
temperature, the energy of residual heat release is to be
spent for the evaporation and heating of the solution Δ mRPC
B
= (G ATC AT + G reC FC
entering the FC from RPC − G12C RPC − G CBC RPC )Δτ,
N FC = G N r + G12 ( r + h ' − hRPC ) ,
where GAT, GHPRS is the flow rate of boric acid solution
where G N is the vented steam flow rate, G12 is the flow coming from the accumulator tanks and steam gener-
rate for the overflow of boric acid solution from the ators, respectively, and СAT is the concentration of
RPC into the FC, r is the specific heat of vaporization, boric acid solution in the accumulator tanks.
h ' is the enthalpy of water at the saturation temperature, The f low rate of vented steam, taking into
and hRPC is the enthalpy of boric acid solution in RPC. account (1) and (2), is determined from the expres-
The mass flow rate of boric acid solution leaving the sion for calculating the residual energy release:
FC and the RPC as a result of the droplet entrainment
is in direct proportion to the mass flow rate of steam: N FC = G N [( h " − hRPC ) + k re ( h ' − hRPC )] ,

G re = k reG N , (1) where h" is the enthalpy dry steam at a saturation tem-
perature. Hence, the flow rate of vented steam is
where k re is the fraction of water carried away with the
N FC
steam (a ratio of the mass of drops to the mass of dry GN = .
steam). ( h " − hRPC ) + k re ( h ' − hRPC )
THERMAL ENGINEERING Vol. 64 No. 7 2017
 EFFECT OF BORIC ACID MASS TRANSFER ON THE ACCUMULATION
Change in the concentration of boric acid in the
FC (ΔС FC ) and RPC (ΔС RPC) over a time interval,
respectively, is
B B
Δ mFC Δ mRPC
Δ С FC = , Δ С RPC = , 2
mF C mR PC
where mFC, mRPC is the mass of water in the FC
and RPC.
The enthalpy change of the solution in RPC
(ΔhRPC ) amounts to a ratio of the enthalpy multiplied
by flow rates for flows entering the RPC, to the sum of
the mass of boric acid solution, already staying in the
RPC, and the mass of flow entering the chamber over
the time interval Δτ. As noted above, the boric acid
solution enters the RPC from the accumulator tank
system and from the FC via droplet entrainment.
Besides, one should consider the condensate flow
having a saturation temperature entering from the
steam generators of the three nonemergency loops:
(G AT hAT + G PHRSh ' + G re hFC ) Δτ
Δ hRPC = ,
mRPC + (G AT + G PHRS + G re ) Δτ
where hAT, hFC is the enthalpy of boric acid solution in
the accumulator tanks and in the FC, respectively.
RESULTS OF CALCULATION ANALYSIS
There are two possible ways of substance transfer
from water to steam: via water droplet entrainment
with steam together with a solute as well as due to the
dissolving ability of steam. In carrying out the calcula-
tion, only the droplet entrainment of boric acid was
taken into account.
As is known, the droplet entrainment of a solute
depends on the humidity of steam. In the event of an
emergency with breaking MCP, the reactor goes to
work in an emergency evaporation mode, and the
humidity of steam at the outlet of the FC can be quite
great in this case. In the calculations, we examined the
processes of boric acid accumulation considered for
the steam humidity at the outlet of the reactor
amounting to 0, 0.2, and 2%. The absence of droplet
entrainment (0%) indicated a conservative version of
the emergency process. The value of droplet entrain-
ment amounting to 0.2% was chosen based on the
standard value of steam humidity at the outlet of the
steam generator (in the absence of special separating
devices within the reactor vessel). In addition, it has
been suggested that the steam humidity at the outlet of
the FC can be an order of magnitude greater than the
steam humidity at the outlet of the steam generator;
thus, a 2% droplet entrainment was taken as the max-
imum value.
The calculated results for changing in the concentra-
tion of boric acid in the reactor FC depending on drop-
let entrainment are shown in Fig. 2. As one can see from
the plot, the droplet entrainment can play a significant
THERMAL ENGINEERING Vol. 64 No. 7 2017
493
2.0
1
in the FC, kg/kg Н2О
Н3ВО3 concentration
1.5
1.0
3
I
0.5
4
0 50 100 150 200 250
τ, 103 s
Fig. 2. Changing in the concentration of boric acid in the
reactor FC depending on the droplet entrainment (I is the
operation time of AT-1). Droplet entrainment, %: (1) 0,
(2) 0.2, (3) 2, (4) 2 (at the boric acid concentration in AT-3
system amounting to 8 g/kg).
role in the accumulation of boric acid. Thus, in 72 h
(259.2 × 103 s) in the absence of droplet entrainment,
the maximum concentration of boric acid in the
FC CFC ≈1.82 kg/kg; at a droplet entrainment amount-
ing to 0.2%, CFC ≈1.70 kg/kg, and CFC ≈ 1.06 kg/kg at a
2% droplet entrainment. A possible solution to the
problem of boric acid crystallization may consist in
decreasing its concentration in the AT-3 to 8 g/kg. This
variant was also considered in the calculation: taking
into account a 2% droplet entrainment, the value of CFC
in the FC amounted to 0.54 kg/kg.
At the assumed value of water saturation tempera-
ture, the limiting concentration of boric acid (Cmax) is
415 g/kg, and all the boric acid that entered the system
should precipitate after achieving this concentration
value. As noted above, the deposits of boric acid in the
FC significantly affect the heat removal in the course
of an emergency process; thus, it was also a task in the
calculation to determine the mass of deposit depend-
ing on the value of droplet entrainment. The deposit
mass was calculated according to formula
msolid = mFC (C FC −C
  max ) .
The calculation results are presented in Fig. 3.
As is seen from the plot, in the case of the most
conservative variant (droplet entrainment is absent),
the mass of boric acid deposits in the fuel core msolid ≈
10580 kg. In case the droplet entrainment is 0.2 and
2%, msolid = 10 120 and 6630 kg, respectively. In the
case of lowering boric acid concentration in the AT-3
system to 8 g/kg and a 2% droplet entrainment msolid ≈
1790 kg.
It should be noted that, for all the variants of calcu-
lation, the deposition of boric acid in the FC starts
24 hours (86.4 × 103 s) after the beginning of an emer-
gency situation.
494
12
Mass of deposits Н3ВО3, t
10
8 under pressure values that are higher than the values in
6 the case of WMR emergency mode.
4 3
2 4
0 50 100 150
Fig. 3. Mass of boric acid deposits in the reactor FC
depending on the droplet entrainment. Droplet entrain-
ment, %: (1) 0, (2) 0.2, (3) 2, (4) 2 (at the boric acid con-
centration in AT-3 system amounting to 8 g/kg).
As noted above, the calculation did not take into
account the carryover of boric acid from the FC due to
the dissolving ability of steam. It is obvious that this
process can reduce the rate of accumulation of boric
acid in the reactor FC under emergency. In addition,
the calculation results could be influenced by taking
into account the thermophysical properties of boric
acid solutions.
THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES
OF BORIC ACID SOLUTION
WITH DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS
Currently, in the calculation of emergency heat
removal, similar characteristics of water under appro-
priate conditions are used as the thermal characteris-
tics of the heat-carrier. This is connected with an
incompleteness of data concerning the density, viscos-
ity, and thermal conductivity of boric acid solutions at
high concentrations. The available data are of a rather
general character and do not cover the entire range of
parameters (temperature, pressure, acid concentra-
tion) inherent in the emergency at NPPs with WMR.
Nevertheless, in the literature, there is information
about experimental studies in this field. For example,
the authors of [5] presented a considerable amount of
experimental data concerning the densities of the
aqueous solutions of boric acid in a fairly wide tem-
perature range (from 25 to 300°C) and pressure values
(from 10 to 50 MPa). In this paper, we studied the
solutions of boric acid having a concentration from 3.1
to 43.4 g/kg, which is significantly lower than the pos-
sible concentrations of boric acid in the reactor FC in
the case of emergency.
Experimental studies on the density and viscosity of
the aqueous solutions of boric acid were performed at
concentration values amounting to 2.52, 25 and 45 g/kg
at an atmospheric pressure and at a temperatures of 65.6
and 100°C [6]. In addition, the data on the dynamic vis-
MOROZOV et al.
cosity of boric acid solution in the temperature range
from 25 to 325 K and a pressure from 1 to 30 MPa are
1
available from [7], but these studies were also carried
out at low concentrations of boric acid solutions and
2
The results of the studies on the thermal conduc-
tivity of boric acid solutions are presented in [8]. The
thermal conductivity was measured using an absolute
stationary method of plane horizontal layer in the
temperature range from 290 to 430 K, and at pressure
200 250 values from 0.1 to 10 MPa, for the solutions of boric
τ, 103 s acid at a concentration of 1, 3, and 5%.
In addition, there is a number of works devoted to
the thermophysical properties of buffered boric acid
solutions, wherein phosphate or sodium hydroxide [9,
10] was used as the alkalizing reagent. However, the
parameters of the studied heat-carrier do not meet the
water-chemical conditions of Russian NPPs with
WMR; moreover, as in all the previous works, the
studies were carried out for relatively low concentra-
tions of boric acid.
Despite the fact that the authors of all these studies
used boric acid solutions of low concentration, and
conditions of experimental studies did not correspond
to the parameters inherent in the emergency operation
of NPPs with WMR, the results obtained therein indi-
cate that the thermal properties of boric acid solutions
are different from the properties of water, and this dif-
ference increases with increasing acid concentration.
CONCLUSIONS
(1) In the course of a prolonged emergency process
in an NPP with WMR (more than 24 hours after the
emergency situation) the concentration of boric acid
could exceed the permissible value, which leads to its
crystallization in the lower part of the FC to cause the
deterioration of heat removal from the fuel rods and,
thus, can result in the melting of the FC.
(2) The droplet entrainment of boric acid slows the
accumulation of the latter and, thus, reduces the risk
of crystallization.
(3) For an accurate calculation analysis of boric
acid accumulation and crystallization processes, it is
necessary to conduct additional studies aimed at the
determination of boric acid thermal properties in a
wider range of concentrations.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work was supported by the Russian Scientific
Foundation (project no. 16-19-10649).
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Translated by O. Polyakov