Experimental and theoretical investigations on the COMET concept for ex-vessel core melt retention

Widmann, Walter; Bürger, M.; Lohnert, G.H.; Alsmeyer, H.; Tromm, W.

doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2006.03.051

Cited by 34 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Addition of inert gas, as envisaged, may reduce porosity formation and rapid quenching, thus possibly helping to avoid too rapid containment pressurization. The mechanism of porosity formation via strong evaporation and local pressure buildup promoted in (Widmann et al, 2006) needs also further elaboration, validation and application to reactor conditions to check the applicability for optimization purposes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The major concepts based on fragmentation and porosity formation are the deep water pool (Chu et al, 1995;Lindholm et al, this issue;Seiler et al, 2003) in the cavity yielding melt break-up and particulate debris formation as well as the COMET concept (Alsmeyer and Tromm, 1999;Alsmeyer et al, 2004;Widmann et al, this issue) providing a coolable porous layer by means of water injection from the bottom into a spread layer. Rapid quenching occurs in both concepts due to the large surface increase.…”

Section: Scenarios and General Features Of Retention Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contributions with this respect are given here in this Part 5 (Cho et al, 2006;Widmann et al, 2006). Basic experiments with simulants are discussed by Cho et al (2006).…”

Section: Coolabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Considerations on ex-vessel corium behavior: Scenarios, MCCI and coolability

Allelein

Bürger

2006

Nuclear Engineering and Design

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Scenarios and General Features Of Retention Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Considerations on ex-vessel corium behavior: Scenarios, MCCI and coolability

Allelein

Bürger

2006

Nuclear Engineering and Design

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“…A model to understand the coolability phenomena observed in COMET experimental series was developed by Paladino et al (1999a, b). Later, Widmann et al (2006) studied melt coolability with bottom flooding using nozzles and porous concrete. In the COMET-H series of experiments, about 650 kg of corium was cooled at a decay heat flux of 450 kW/m 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They postulated that for any melt height, there would be an upper bound to the heat removal rate. Paladino et al (2002) and Widmann et al (2006) attempted modelling of melt coolability under bottom flooding, but their focus was to predict the porosity of the melts formed during bottom injection and its effect on coolability. Foit et al (2008) studied the porosity formation as well as quenching of different melt layers using MEWA code.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental investigation on melt coolability under bottom flooding with and without decay heat simulation

Singh

Kulkarni

Nayak

2015

Nuclear Engineering and Design

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Experimental investigations on melt coolability with simulated decay heat—The influence of delay time in flooding

2021

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The primary objective of core catchers is to minimize the potential risk of core meltdown by stabilization and cooling of molten corium within the reactor containment for a prolonged period by strategically cooling it. Quenching of the high-temperature melt by top flooding strongly depends on the timing of injection of the cooling water, that is, immediate flooding or delayed flooding. To understand this aspect, we conducted experiments in a simulated core catcher of an Indian advanced nuclear reactor. In the experiments, sodium borosilicate glass, as a mixture of corium and sacrificial material simulant, was melted at about 1200°C and cooled by water from the side of a simulated core catcher and then flooding at the top of the melt pool. Two experiments were conducted; the first one was done with immediate flooding at the top of the melt pool; the second was performed with delayed top flooding of 45 min gap. The results show that immediate flooding quenches the melt pool rapidly compared to delayed flooding. A stable crust formation at the top of the melt pool and wall adhesion is observed in the delayed flooding. It was also found that no ingression of the water in the molten pool occurred with delayed flooding. On the other hand, with immediate flooding, water was found to ingress into the melt pool due to gap formations between melt and core catcher sidewall, causing the melt to break up through eruption by ingressed water. This phenomenon resulted in the formation of sand-type debris and in faster melt cooling.

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Experimental and theoretical investigations on the COMET concept for ex-vessel core melt retention

Cited by 34 publications

References 5 publications

Considerations on ex-vessel corium behavior: Scenarios, MCCI and coolability

Considerations on ex-vessel corium behavior: Scenarios, MCCI and coolability

Experimental investigation on melt coolability under bottom flooding with and without decay heat simulation

Experimental investigations on melt coolability with simulated decay heat—The influence of delay time in flooding

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