Conceptual design of air curtain application on the reactor vessel auxiliary cooling system (RVACS)

Abstract

The next-generation reactor does not cause an accident, and even if it occurs, it is necessary to develop a reactor with inherent safety system that can flexibly cope with it. One of them is the driven residual heat removal system used in the sodium fast reactor and the molten salt reactor, and the reactor vessel auxiliary cooling system (RVACS) is used, and it can be applied to a reactor with a 1000 MWth power or less. The RVACS is a passive safety system that residual heat removal from a reactor vessel during an accident, but the current RVACS has a problem of heat loss even during normal operation. The aim of this study was to develop an air curtain to reduce the heat loss for economization and evaluate the feasibility of an air curtain by comparing the heat loss. Air curtain injects compressed air through nozzles to create a physical air barrier, and blocks internal and external heat exchange and material exchange to make the inside of RVACS static equilibrium. Heat loss and fluid flow were observed using CFD calculations to assess the applicability of air curtain.