Experimental and CFD Investigation on Flow Behaviors of a NPP Pump under Natural Circulation Condition

Passive safety system is the core feature of advanced nuclear power plant (NPP). It is a research hotspot to fulfill the function of passive safety system by improving the NPP natural circulation capacity. Considering that the flow behaviors of stopped pump pose a significant effect on natural circu...

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Main Authors: Weitong Li, Lei Yu, Jianli Hao, Mingrui Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-01-01
Series:Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/5250894
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author Weitong Li
Lei Yu
Jianli Hao
Mingrui Li
author_facet Weitong Li
Lei Yu
Jianli Hao
Mingrui Li
author_sort Weitong Li
collection DOAJ
description Passive safety system is the core feature of advanced nuclear power plant (NPP). It is a research hotspot to fulfill the function of passive safety system by improving the NPP natural circulation capacity. Considering that the flow behaviors of stopped pump pose a significant effect on natural circulation, both experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods were performed to investigate the flow behaviors of a NPP centrifugal pump under natural circulation condition with a low flow rate. Since the pump structure may lead to different flows depending on the flow direction, an experimental loop was set up to measure the pressure drop and loss coefficient of the stopped pump for different flow directions. The experimental results show that the pressure drop of reverse direction is significantly greater than that of forward direction in same Reynolds number. In addition, the loss coefficient changes slightly while the Reynolds number is greater than 8 × 104; however, the coefficients show rapid increase with the decrease in Reynolds number under lower Reynolds number condition. According to the experimental data, an empirical correlation of the pump loss coefficient is obtained. A CFD analysis was also performed to simulate the experiment. The simulation provides a good accuracy with the experimental results. Furthermore, the internal flow field distributions are obtained. It is observed that the interface regions of main components in pump contribute to the most pressure losses. Significant differences are also observed in the flow field between forward and reverse condition. It is noted that the local flows vary with different Reynolds numbers. The study shows that the experimental and CFD methods are beneficial to enhance the understanding of pump internal flow behaviors.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1687-6075
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language English
publishDate 2019-01-01
publisher Wiley
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series Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
spelling doaj-art-b43a5802e1074c5383bbf919690b9e1d2025-02-03T06:01:45ZengWileyScience and Technology of Nuclear Installations1687-60751687-60832019-01-01201910.1155/2019/52508945250894Experimental and CFD Investigation on Flow Behaviors of a NPP Pump under Natural Circulation ConditionWeitong Li0Lei Yu1Jianli Hao2Mingrui Li3College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan 430033, ChinaCollege of Nuclear Science and Technology, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan 430033, ChinaCollege of Nuclear Science and Technology, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan 430033, ChinaCollege of Nuclear Science and Technology, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan 430033, ChinaPassive safety system is the core feature of advanced nuclear power plant (NPP). It is a research hotspot to fulfill the function of passive safety system by improving the NPP natural circulation capacity. Considering that the flow behaviors of stopped pump pose a significant effect on natural circulation, both experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods were performed to investigate the flow behaviors of a NPP centrifugal pump under natural circulation condition with a low flow rate. Since the pump structure may lead to different flows depending on the flow direction, an experimental loop was set up to measure the pressure drop and loss coefficient of the stopped pump for different flow directions. The experimental results show that the pressure drop of reverse direction is significantly greater than that of forward direction in same Reynolds number. In addition, the loss coefficient changes slightly while the Reynolds number is greater than 8 × 104; however, the coefficients show rapid increase with the decrease in Reynolds number under lower Reynolds number condition. According to the experimental data, an empirical correlation of the pump loss coefficient is obtained. A CFD analysis was also performed to simulate the experiment. The simulation provides a good accuracy with the experimental results. Furthermore, the internal flow field distributions are obtained. It is observed that the interface regions of main components in pump contribute to the most pressure losses. Significant differences are also observed in the flow field between forward and reverse condition. It is noted that the local flows vary with different Reynolds numbers. The study shows that the experimental and CFD methods are beneficial to enhance the understanding of pump internal flow behaviors.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/5250894
spellingShingle Weitong Li
Lei Yu
Jianli Hao
Mingrui Li
Experimental and CFD Investigation on Flow Behaviors of a NPP Pump under Natural Circulation Condition
Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
title Experimental and CFD Investigation on Flow Behaviors of a NPP Pump under Natural Circulation Condition
title_full Experimental and CFD Investigation on Flow Behaviors of a NPP Pump under Natural Circulation Condition
title_fullStr Experimental and CFD Investigation on Flow Behaviors of a NPP Pump under Natural Circulation Condition
title_full_unstemmed Experimental and CFD Investigation on Flow Behaviors of a NPP Pump under Natural Circulation Condition
title_short Experimental and CFD Investigation on Flow Behaviors of a NPP Pump under Natural Circulation Condition
title_sort experimental and cfd investigation on flow behaviors of a npp pump under natural circulation condition
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/5250894
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AT leiyu experimentalandcfdinvestigationonflowbehaviorsofanpppumpundernaturalcirculationcondition
AT jianlihao experimentalandcfdinvestigationonflowbehaviorsofanpppumpundernaturalcirculationcondition
AT mingruili experimentalandcfdinvestigationonflowbehaviorsofanpppumpundernaturalcirculationcondition