Analysis of Passive Water Hammer

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed M. Husaini ◽  
Asif H. Arastu ◽  
Riyad Qashu
Keyword(s):  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Water Hammer ◽  
Saturated Water ◽  
Pipe Segment ◽  
Pressure Surge ◽  
Active Flow

Abstract This paper presents a methodology for the calculation of the severity a type of water hammer called “passive water hammer”. The passage of a cold water column followed by hot saturated water through a restricting orifice causes a reduction in flow velocity and a corresponding increase in pressure. The term passive water hammer was given to this mechanism because there is no active flow intervention required for its initiation. This type of water hammer has been observed in heater drain systems of power plants. An example is given for the calculation of pressure surge and pipe segment forces due to this mechanism.

Nuclear Power Plant Fires and Explosions: Part IV — Water Hammer Explosion Mechanisms

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Leishear
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Water Hammer ◽  
Compression Process ◽  
Flammable Gas ◽  
Piping Systems ◽  
Fukushima Daiichi ◽  
Accident Conditions

Water hammers, or fluid transients, compress flammable gasses to their autognition temperatures in piping systems to cause fires or explosions. While this statement may be true for many industrial systems, the focus of this research are reactor coolant water systems (RCW) in nuclear power plants, which generate flammable gasses during normal operations and during accident conditions, such as loss of coolant accidents (LOCA’s) or reactor meltdowns. When combustion occurs, the gas will either burn (deflagrate) or explode, depending on the system geometry and the quantity of the flammable gas and oxygen. If there is sufficient oxygen inside the pipe during the compression process, an explosion can ignite immediately. If there is insufficient oxygen to initiate combustion inside the pipe, the flammable gas can only ignite if released to air, an oxygen rich environment. This presentation considers the fundamentals of gas compression and causes of ignition in nuclear reactor systems. In addition to these ignition mechanisms, specific applications are briefly considered. Those applications include a hydrogen fire following the Three Mile Island meltdown, hydrogen explosions following Fukushima Daiichi explosions, and on-going fires and explosions in U.S nuclear power plants. Novel conclusions are presented here as follows. 1. A hydrogen fire was ignited by water hammer at Three Mile Island. 2. Hydrogen explosions were ignited by water hammer at Fukushima Daiichi. 3. Piping damages in U.S. commercial nuclear reactor systems have occurred since reactors were first built. These damages were not caused by water hammer alone, but were caused by water hammer compression of flammable hydrogen and resultant deflagration or detonation inside of the piping.

scholarly journals Assessment of water hammer effects on boiling water nuclear reactor core dynamics

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anis Bousbia-Salah
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Wave ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Water Hammer ◽  
Pressure Wave Amplitude ◽  
Sensitivity Studies ◽  
Rapid Transients ◽  
Complex Phenomena

Complex phenomena, as water hammer transients, occurring in nuclear power plants are still not very well investigated by the current best estimate computational tools. Within this frame work, a rapid positive reactivity addition into the core generated by a water hammer transient is considered. The numerical simulation of such phenomena was carried out using the coupled RELAP5/PARCS code. An over all data comparison shows good agreement between the calculated and measured core pressure wave trends. However, the predicted power response during the excursion phase did not correctly match the experimental tendency. Because of this, sensitivity studies have been carried out in order to identify the most influential parameters that govern the dynamics of the power excursion. After investigating the pressure wave amplitude and the void feed back responses, it was found that the disagreement between the calculated and measured data occurs mainly due to the RELAP5 low void condensation rate which seems to be questionable during rapid transients. .

A New Thermal Categorization of Ice-covered Lakes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Yang ◽  
Mathew Wells ◽  
Bailey McMeans ◽  
Hilary Dugan ◽  
James Rusak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Profile ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Thermal Regime ◽  
Thermal Stratification ◽  
Trophic Status ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Entire Water Column ◽  
Lake Type

<p>Lakes are traditionally classified based on their thermal regime and trophic status. While this classification adequately captures many lakes, it is not sufficient to understand seasonally ice-covered lakes, the most common lake type on Earth. We describe the inverse thermal stratification in 19 highly varying lakes and derive a model that predicts the temperature profile as a function of wind stress, area, and depth. The results suggest an additional subdivision of seasonally ice-covered lakes to differentiate under-ice stratification. When ice forms in smaller and deeper lakes, inverse stratification will form with a thin buoyant layer of cold water (near 0<sup>o</sup>C) below the ice, which remains above a deeper 4<sup>o</sup>C layer. In contrast, the entire water column can cool to ~0<sup>o</sup>C in larger and shallower lakes. We suggest these alternative conditions for dimictic lakes be termed “cryostratified” and “cryomictic.”</p>

Vibration Analysis in Multiple Close Proximity Flow Restrictions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Verma ◽  
George Horiates ◽  
Nicholas Kanellis
Keyword(s):  
Water Treatment ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Water Treatment Plant ◽  
Water Hammer ◽  
Pipe System ◽  
Flow Profiles ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Pipe Segment ◽  
Flow Phenomena

Abstract In this study, a segment of water conveyance system at a chemical manufacturing facility is under investigation. The pipe segment under investigation conveys a daily average flow of five million gallons of water per day (MGD) from the river to a water treatment plant. The exact age of the pipe system is unknown as limited construction or maintenance information exists. The study area is a pipe segment near the treatment plant where three flow restrictions exist within a 30-foot distance bounded by a T-junction and a water filtration plant. These restrictions include two self-actuated butterfly valves and an orifice plate on a 16-inch diameter steel pipe, buried approximately three feet below ground surface. When standing in the study area, heavy vibrations are felt at the ground surface. The valves and orifice plate are to control flowrate and reduce pressure from 80 PSI to 45PSI as the flow enters the water treatment plant. Flow restrictions in close proximity can cause cavitation, water hammer and other flow phenomena within a pipe system. This can result in excessive wear of the pipe’s inner walls and valves which may compromise the structural integrity and/or function of the system. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software is a useful tool for determining if the conditions for the various flow phenomena are present in a system. The flow characteristics were numerically calculated in MATLAB then computationally modeled in AFT Fathom. The purpose of the numerical analysis was to describe the stability of the fluid flow at discrete points in the pipe network and identify the network segments with significantly unstable flow profiles. The purpose of the AFT Fathom CFD model purpose was to provide a continuous simulation of the flow stability in the pipe segment and provide a more robust description of the flow profiles in the network. While Fathom cannot explicitly predict cavitation or water hammer, the kinematic parameters produced by the Fathom model and the physical conditions observed in the study indicate that water hammer is likely occurring.

Computational Study of Conjugate Heat Transfer in T-Junctions

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Kuhn ◽  
Bojan Nicˇeno ◽  
Horst-Michael Prasser
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Fatigue ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Solid Wall ◽  
Turbulent Viscosity ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Piping Systems

Thermal fatigue is a relevant problem in the context of life-time extension of nuclear power plants (NPP). In many piping systems in NPPs hot and cold water is mixed, which leads to high temperature fluctuations in the region close to the solid wall and resulting thermal loads on the pipe walls that can cause fatigue. One of the relevant geometric test cases for thermal fatigue is the mixing in T-junctions. In this study we apply large–eddy simulations (LES) to the mixing of hot and cold water in a T-junction. We perform a set of simulations by using different formulations of the LES subgrid scale model, i.e. standard Smagorinsky and dynamic procedure, to identify the influence of the modelled subgrid scales on the simulation results. The results exhibit a large difference between the models, which is caused by the use of turbulent viscosity wall–damping functions when applying the standard model.

Hydrology and Water Quality Survey Near the Gezhouba Dam in the Winter

2013 ◽  
Vol 726-731 ◽  
pp. 3256-3261
Author(s):  
Jia Fei Zhou ◽  
Cong Feng Wang ◽  
De Fu Liu ◽  
Jing Wen Xiang ◽  
Ping Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Dissolved Oxygen ◽  
Water Temperature ◽  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Chinese Sturgeon ◽  
Water Quality Data ◽  
Gezhouba Dam ◽  
Survival Condition

Filed hydrology and water quality data were collected near the Gezhouba Dam early December of 2012 to analyze the response of Chinese Sturgeon survival condition to water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, transparency (SD) and bottom flow-velocity. The results showed that water temperature lag is unconspicuous. The water temperature of Gezhouba Dam Sanjiang (GDS) was lower than that of Gezhouba Dam River (GDR), and it hindered propagation of sturgeon eggs. DO decreased fast in the vertical water column of GDS, pH ranged from 7.5 to 7.71. The hydrology and water quality were suitable for the life condition of sturgeon eggs and fry, except index of bottom flow-velocity.

scholarly journals Impact pressure on an orifice plate by a rising water column driven by an air pocket in a vertical riser

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 1029-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Qian ◽  
David Z. Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Peak Pressure ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Water Hammer ◽  
Orifice Plate ◽  
Minor Effect ◽  
Initial Water ◽  
Air Pocket ◽  
Riser Height

Abstract Occurrences of storm geyser events have attracted significant attention in recent years. Previous studies suggest that using an orifice plate can reduce the intensity of a geyser event but may induce a water-hammer type of pressure on the orifice plate. This study was conducted to explore the factors that influence the pressure transients when an orifice plate was installed in a vertical riser. A novel model was developed to simulated the movement of a rising water column driven by an air pocket in a vertical riser with an orifice plate on the top. Water-hammer type of pressure occurs when the water column reaches the orifice plate. The current model accurately simulates the dynamics of the water column considering its mass loss due to the flow along the wall of the riser (film flow) and the existence of the orifice plate. It was found that the initial water column length and the driving pressure, as well as the riser material, have a strong relationship with the peak pressure. The riser diameter and riser height have minor effect on the peak pressure. The water-hammer induced peak pressure reaches the maximum when the orifice opening is around 0.2 times the diameter of the vertical riser.

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