Code-experiment comparison on wall condensation tests in the presence of non-condensable gases—Numerical calculations for containment studies
Résumé
During the course of a severe Pressurized Water Reactor accident, pressurization of the containment
occurs and hydrogen can be produced by the reactor core oxidation and distributed in the containment
according to convection flows and wall condensation. Filmwise wall condensation in the presence of
non-condensable gases is a subject of many interests and extensive studies have been performed in
the past. Some empirical correlations have demonstrated their limit for extrapolation under different
thermal-hydraulic conditions and at different geometries/scales. The French Institute for Radiological
Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) has developed a numerical tool and an experimental facility in
order to investigate free convection flows in the presence of condensation. The objective of this paper is
to present numerical results obtained on different wall condensation tests in 7 m3 volume vessel (TOSQAN
facility), and to compare them with the experimental ones. Over eight tests are considered here, and codeexperiment
comparison is performed on many different locations, giving an extensive insight of the code
assessment for air–steam mixture flows involving wall condensation in the presence of non-condensable
gases.
