Project work: “Determination of

critical heat flux and safety

analysis for NPP”
Critical Heat Flux
• Critical heat flux (CHF) describes the thermal limit of a phenomenon
where a phase change occurs during heating (such as bubbles forming
on a metal surface used to heat water), which suddenly decreases the
efficiency of heat transfer, thus causing localized overheating of the
heating surface.
Determination of CHF
• In order to determine CHF for a material and the temperature for
failure (hence the critical heat flux) an experimental setup is to be
constructed to observe the effects of nucleate boiling to DNB. A
method to do so, can be using a wire submerged and made for heat
transfer to a pool boiling liquid until CHF is reached and the wire
breaks. From observing the temperatures at different points we can
determine the critical heat flux via the formula for heat transfer.
Experimental Setup
Apparatus Necessary
• Water container of (Borosilicate glass)
• Immersion heater
• Power supply
• Ammeter and voltmeter
• Two electrodes of conductive materials
• A Experiment material wire (dimensions specified)
• Temperature sensors (Thermistor, thermocouple, NTC, PTC)
• Thermometer
• Pressure sensors (Piezoresistive or other)
• Dimmerstat for heater temperature control
• Display Board and
• Bread board circuitry
Calculation
• 
Theoretical critical heat flux(qT)σ ρv p[σg(ρ1-ρv)]1/4
• hfg = latent heat of vaporization
• ρv = density of vapor
• ρ1 = density of liquid
• σ = surface intention of water
• Experimental value of critical heat flux
• Critical heat flux q =Q/A
• Where Q = VI watts
• A = surface area of wire=πdL.
• d = diameter of wire
• L = length of the wire
 Data Table (Actual )

Water
S. No. temperatu Volts Amps Q
re in oc

         
Safety Analaysis
A pressurized-water reactor (PWR) fuel consists of many fuel rods containing
sintered uranium dioxide pellets sealed in zirconium alloy cladding. The fuel
cladding provides an important barrier to prevent fission products in a fuel
rod from being released to the outside. The fuel is cooled by high-pressure
coolant (light water) at a temperature sufficiently lower than the boiling
point. Therefore, it is unlikely that the fuel cladding will fail due to overheating
unless a severe accident, such as a loss-of-coolant accident, occurs and results
in core exposure. However, even with a sufficient amount of coolant in the
reactor core, if a significant increase of local power occurs, a steam film can
be formed by rapid steam generation on the fuel surface, which may cause
fuel failure due to overheating. Such a phenomenon is known as “departure
from nucleate boiling (DNB).”
Contd.
One of the most important objectives of PWR safety analysis is to prevent DNB. Critical
heat flux (CHF) is the local thermal power where DNB occurs. The value of the CHF
depends on the
• Pressure
• Temperature (i.e., enthalpy)
• Flow velocity of the coolant and
• Fuel specification, especially the geometry and layout of the grid spacers, which hold
the fuel rods in a square array.
For the safety design of the nuclear plant, CHF is measured against various coolant
conditions using the electrically heated test equipment that precisely simulates the
actual fuel. Based on a database obtained from the test, empirical DNB correlations are
derived and are utilized to predict CHF in the safety analysis.
Analysis
Analysis technology for the core thermal-hydraulic behavior including
DNB correlations
• 4 VIPRE-W Applications for a WWER-1000 Core
VIPRE-W is the Westinghouse modified version of the Electric Power
Research Institute (EPRI) 3-D thermal-hydraulic (T/H) sub-channel code
VIPRE-01 developed for light water reactor core design applications.
• C0BRA-3C [I] for both VVER-440 and VVER-1000 geometry and
parameters
Information Sources
• http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/44/1
22/44122462.pdf
• http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/27/0
45/27045258.pdf
• http://thescipub.com/PDF/jcssp.2012.1996.2007.pdf
• https://www.mhi.co.jp/technology/review/pdf/e491/e491034.pdf
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kcCxJM9r4
Thank You