VIKTORIA experiments in the frame of R&D project on sump filtration during a Loss Of Coolant Accident
Résumé
During a Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA), in PWR’s, water is injected by the Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) to ensure the long-term core coolability and by the Containment Spray System (CSS) to remove residual heat and to maintain containment integrity. After the drainage of the Refueling Water Storage Tank (RWST), water is taken from sumps in the lower part of the reactor building. A filtering system is implemented to collect debris produced by the pipe break as well as other latent materials, such as fiberglass, paint and concrete particles, and to minimize the amount of debris entering in the ECCS and CSS systems. IRSN has launched an experimental R&D project investigating the clogging of sump filters by integral tests performed in the VIKTORIA loop. The main objectives are to investigate the head loss of the filter (physical and chemical clogging) for prototypic upstream debris source term in relevant thermal hydraulic conditions (water temperature and flow velocity on the filter surface) in com