Calculation of Forces on Reactor Containment Fan Cooler Piping Available to Purchase

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the Reactor Containment Fan Cooler (RCFC) system piping load calculations. These calculations are based on piping loads calculated using the EPRI methodology (Refs. 1 & 2) and RELAP5 (Ref. 3) to simulate the hydraulic behavior of the system. The RELAP5 generated loads were compared to loads calculated using the EPRI GL 96-06 methodology. This evaluation was based on a pressurized water reactor’s RCFC coils thermal hydraulic behavior during a Loss of Offsite Power (LOOP) and a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). The RCFC consist of two banks of service water and chill water coils. There are 5 SX and 5 chill water coils per bank. Therefore, there are 4 RCFC units in the containment with 2 banks of coils per RCFC. Two Service water pumps provide coolant for the 4 RCFC units (8 banks total, 2 banks per RCFC unit and 2 RCFC units per pump). Following a LOOP/LOCA condition, the RCFC fans would coast down and upon being reenergized, would shift to low-speed operation. The fan coast down is anticipated to occur very rapidly due to the closure of the exhaust damper as a result of LOCA pressurization effects. The service water flow would also coast down and be restarted in approximately 43 seconds after the initiation of the event. The service water would drain from the RCFC coils during the pump shutdown and once the pumps restart, water is quickly forced into the RCFC coils causing hydraulic loading on the piping. Because of this scenario and the potential for over stressing the piping, an evaluation was performed by the utility using RELAP5 to assess the piping loads. Subsequent to the hydraulic loads being analyzed using RELAP5, EPRI through GL 96-06 provided another methodology to assess loads on the RCFC piping system. This paper presents the results of using the EPRI methodology and RELAP5 to perform thermal hydraulic load calculations and compares them.