沸騰水型原子炉蒸気乾燥器の流力音響振動(流体工学,流体機械)  [in Japanese] Flow-Induced Acoustic Vibration of Steam Dryer in BWRs(Fluids Engineering)  [in Japanese]

The boiling water reactor (BWR) in the Quad Cities Unit 2 Nuclear Power Plant experienced a dryer failure under extended power up-rate conditions. The cause of the dryer failure was considered as flow-induced acoustic resonance at the stub pipes of safety relief valves (SRVs) in the main steam lines (MSLs). We have started a research program on BWR dryers to develop their loading evaluation methods. Moreover, it was also desirable to evaluate the dryer integrity of BWR-5 plants which are the main type of BWR in Japan. In the present study, we used 1/10-scale BWR tests and analysis to investigate the flow-induced acoustic resonance in SRV stub pipes and propagation of fluctuating pressure from SRVs to the dryer through the MSLs. We demonstrated that acoustic resonance occurred in SRV stub pipes at higher velocity flows than in the normal operation and fluctuating pressure propagated from SRVs to the dryer. The amplitude of the fluctuating pressure due to several stub pipes was much larger than that in one stub pipe because of interaction between them. The flow-induced acoustic resonance occurred for Strouhal number below 0.6 in the MSLs system of the BWR-5. Results of the tests were compared with those of acoustic analysis. The acoustic analysis could well predict the dryer loading.