Description

Corrosion in nuclear power plants cause reductions in efficiency and increases in deposit build-up on plant surfaces, making for expensive maintentance and potential radiological health hazards. This book guides studies to predict and minimize corrosion, thus making nuclear power safer and more cost effective. Too often, reliance on empirical models and on-site testing of existing plants makes study and prediction of corrosive effects in nuclear reactors into a pricey and lengthy process. Introducing the experimental procedures, set up, sample preparation and computer modeling suggested in this book will save precious time and resources in a field where the significant time and expense to get and keep plants on-line are two of the chief concerns preventing broader commerical viability.

Readership

Nuclear Engineers, Nuclear Power Designers, Chemical and Civil Engineers working in the Nuclear field, Corrosion Scientists

Contents

Preface
Introduction
Why do we care?
Bounding the discussion
The reactor
Materials of construction
pH control agents and coolant additives
Clarifying the definition
The analytical domain
The Corrosion Source
The process
The form
Why a double layered film?
Ion site preference
Kinetics
Modeling the behavior
A closer look at kp
Elemental speciation of kp & kr
The cobalt source
Tramp cobalt in construction material
High cobalt content alloys
A place to start
Framing the vision of the general equation set
Mass balances
Physico-chemical processes
Nuclear processes
Dependant variables
Modeling coolant additives and pH control agents
Building block fluxes for the general equation set
Corrosion growth and release
Particulate deposition and erosion
Water Purity
Practical measurements of kdp and ke
Hydro-thermal crystallization/dissolution
Saturated or equilibrium coolant concentrations
Vanishing dependent variables
Parsing the hydrothermal mass transfer
Modeling of boiling phenomena
Boiling enhanced hydrothermal crystallization
Boiling enhanced particulate deposition
Hydrothermal particulate crystallization/dissolution
Saturation enhancement factor (FP)
Hydrothermal particulate mass transfer coefficient
Building block models for radioactive build-up and decay
Effective thermal neutron production cross sections
Chromite sub-layer equations
Iron & nickel based alloys
Stellite��
Zircaloy
Ferrite layer equations
Particulate aqueous phase equations
Discussion
Aqueous soluble phase equations
Iron & nickel based alloy soluble equations
Zircaloy base metal soluble equations
Stellite�� base metal soluble equations
Discussion
Framing the vision of the media equation set
Reactor coolant purification systems
Modeling media
Filtration building block model
Modeling �� f and ��
A simpler approach
Ion-exchange building block model
The media equation set
Media ionic sub-surface equations (ion-exchangers only)
Media surface phase (filtered mass) equations
Media particulate equations
Media soluble equations
A solution method
Linerizing the equation sets
Finite differencing
General equations for iron in iron/nickel based alloys
Simplified-linearized iron equations
Discussion
How does finite-differencing work?
Defining Y (n) and b (n,m)
Subordinate or Secondary Models and Correlations
FORTRAN or C Algorithms for the Thermodynamic Properties of Steam and Water
Computation of pH (log of the H+ ion concentration)
Single Phase Hydraulic Friction Factor
Defining the Input Architecture for NOC
System Defaults and Program Control Inputs
Finite Difference Mesh
Time Independent Part (or region) Inputs
Operating History Histogram Inputs
The Modeling of Time
Time Dependent Inputs
Time dependent loop connection table inputs
Time dependent part inputs
Nuclear inputs and power shapes
Program design and suggestions
Program Architecture
Input module
Full input processing
Input pre-scanning
Full input summary edits
Auto-mesh generation
Initial dependent variable boundary conditions
Restart input processing
The restart file structure
The analysis module
Loop 1 ? Operating Steps
Keeping track of time
Loop 2 ? Temporal Power Rows
Loop 3 ? Descending the loop connection table
Loop 4 ? The inner-most loop over mesh cells
Dynamic solution repair
Consider a freezing strategy
Row convergence
A word about convergence
Preserving the mass balance
Partial row rebalance
Oscillatory solutions
A special case mass rebalance
Wrapping up the problem
Summary tables
The output module
Summary
Pre and post processing (the GUI interface)
Post processing functionality
Special solution edits
Simulation graphical trends
Summary
Afterward
References.
Glossary
Nomenclature
Appendix A.
Nickel equilibria
Cobalt equilibria
Zinc equilibria

Author Information

By Roy Castelli, Lockheed Martin, Nuclear Engineer; Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, Advisory Engineer