A thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication modeling approach to the operation of reactor coolant pump seals

Srivastava, Gagan; Chiappa, Peter; Shelton, John W.; Higgs, C. Fred

doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2019.04.033

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…They showed that the elastic deformation of the seals due to pressure and temperature affected the leakage rates of mechanical seals, with leakage rates increasing as the sealing pressure increased. Other researchers have also conducted a thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic analysis of the lubrication characteristics of seals for RCPs [17][18][19][20]. However, prior researchers did not investigate the effects of the high temperature and pressure of ELAP operating conditions on the performance of RCP seals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermo-Fluid–Structural Coupled Analysis of a Mechanical Seal in Extended Loss of AC Power of a Reactor Coolant Pump

Park,

Hong,

Jun

et al. 2024

Lubricants

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We proposed a numerical method to investigate the thermo-fluid–structural coupled characteristics of a mechanical seal of a reactor coolant pump (RCP), especially during extended loss of AC power (ELAP) operation. We developed a finite element program for the general Reynolds equation, including the turbulence effect to calculate the pressure, opening force, and leakage rate of fluid lubricant and the two-dimensional energy equation to calculate the temperature distribution of the fluid lubricant. We verified the accuracy of the developed program by comparing the simulated temperature distribution and leakage rate of this study with those of previous research. Heat conduction and elastic deformation due to pressure and temperature changes at the seal structure were analyzed using an ANSYS program. The results showed that temperature more significantly affected the elastic deformation of the seal structure near clearance than pressure both under normal and ELAP operating conditions. High temperature and pressure of the coolant under ELAP operating conditions deform the seal structure, resulting in a much smaller clearance of the fluid film than normal operating condition. However, even with a small clearance under ELAP operation, the leakage rate slightly increases due to the high internal pressure of the coolant. This research will contribute to the development of robust mechanical seals for RCPs by accurately predicting the characteristics of mechanical seals, especially when the RCP is operating under ELAP.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermo-Fluid–Structural Coupled Analysis of a Mechanical Seal in Extended Loss of AC Power of a Reactor Coolant Pump

Park,

Hong,

Jun

et al. 2024

Lubricants

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“…The higher leakage rate of corrugated seals was due to the higher average oil film thickness. Srivastava et al developed a novel thermoelastic hydrodynamic lubrication model for the mechanical seals used in RCP, 9 by coupling the Reynolds equations for fluid flow and the thin film energy equation for heat transfer. The thermal deformation and mechanical deformation of the solid region was also analyzed by the finite element method.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermo-viscous influence on the mechanical seal performance in a reactor coolant pump (RCP)

Wang

et al. 2023

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

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The mechanical seal performance in reactor coolant pump (RCP) is of great importance for the efficient and safe operation of primary loop in nuclear power plant. The sealing medium filling inside the seal encounters strong thermal gradient. In this paper, thermo-viscous effect on sealing characteristics with two typical mechanical seal faces, namely the tapered-end-face and wave-tilt-dam, is numerically studied, by introducing the temperature-viscosity equation according to the real physical properties of the sealing medium. Performance of mechanical seal with two different temperature-viscosity equations are compared. In addition, the influence of thermo-viscous effect on cavitation is also analyzed. It is revealed that the temperature-viscosity variation significantly influences the internal flow field, temperature field, two-phase distribution, and the opening force as well. With low base film thickness, the temperature difference will reduce 58% as considering the thermal effect on viscosity, and the difference in leakage may be as high as 43%. Also, the prediction of cavitation under small film thickness indicates that the thermo-viscous effect decreases the cavitating area. This work contributes to the mechanical seal design and performance prediction by assessing the thermal influences on viscosity of seal medium, and meanwhile revealing the effect on the possible cavitation event.

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“…Thermoelastohydrodynamic problems have always played an essential role in the precise design of gas face seals [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ] and other mechanical elements [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ] since both thermal distortion and elastic distortion significantly affect sealing performance. However, with the rapid development of pre-cool technology using low-temperature and high-pressure helium gas in hypersonic engines [ 11 , 12 ], there arouses a new thermoelastohydrodynamic lubrication problem, where not only the face distortions [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ] but also the real-gas properties [ 17 , 18 ] become nonignorable, since compressibility coefficient, viscosity, and heat capacity vary obviously with decreasing temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelastohydrodynamic Characteristics of Low-Temperature Helium Gas T-Groove Face Seals

2021

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Thermoelastohydrodynamic lubrication behaviors of helium gas T-groove face seals are numerically simulated under conditions of low temperature and high pressure, with the consideration of real-gas properties including compressibility coefficient, viscosity, and heat capacity. It is found that helium gas T-groove face seal presents a sharp divergent deformation at low temperature and high pressure, which makes the opening performance weaken and the leakage rate increase. This result is obviously different from the case of high-temperature gas face seals. As the sealing temperature drops from 300 K to 150 K, the leakage rate increases about 17% and the opening force decreases about 15%. Moreover, with the growth of rotational speed, both the outlet film pressure and the sealing performance present a non-monotonic trend. Specifically, while the rotating speed of moving ring raises from 3000 to 30,000 r·min−1, the leakage rate changes more than 30%, and the opening force is reduced about 10%.

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A thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication modeling approach to the operation of reactor coolant pump seals

Cited by 14 publications

References 26 publications

Thermo-Fluid–Structural Coupled Analysis of a Mechanical Seal in Extended Loss of AC Power of a Reactor Coolant Pump

Thermo-Fluid–Structural Coupled Analysis of a Mechanical Seal in Extended Loss of AC Power of a Reactor Coolant Pump

Thermo-viscous influence on the mechanical seal performance in a reactor coolant pump (RCP)

Thermoelastohydrodynamic Characteristics of Low-Temperature Helium Gas T-Groove Face Seals

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