Pressure relief system for the containment of a nuclear power facility, nuclear power facility and method of operating a pressure relief system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10236085-B2
Application number	US-201514867198-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2015
Priority date	Mar 27, 2013
Publication date	Mar 19, 2019
Grant date	Mar 19, 2019

Abstract

A pressure-relief system for the containment of a nuclear power facility allows reliable operation of a wet scrubber for the pressure relief flow with a simultaneously compact structural design. The pressure relief system has a pressure relief line guided through the containment and can be closed by a shut-off valve, a wet scrubber arranged in a portion of the pressure relief line located inside the containment, for the pressure relief flow which forms in the pressure-relief mode when the shut-off valve is open, a reservoir arranged inside the containment and is fluidically connected to the remaining inner space of the containment such that any overpressure, with respect to the surroundings outside the containment, prevailing in the containment is transferred at least in part to the reservoir, and a supply line leading from the reservoir to the wet scrubber for supplying the wet scrubber with fluid from the reservoir.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A pressure relief system for a containment in a nuclear power facility, the pressure relief system comprising:
a shut-off valve;
a pressure relief line guided through the containment and being closed by said shut-off valve, said pressure relief line conducting a pressure relieving flow out of the containment when said shut-off valve is open;
a wet scrubber disposed in a portion of said pressure relief line inside the containment, wherein said wet scrubber is a Venturi scrubber having a Venturi tube disposed in a washing fluid tank, said Venturi tube having a throat point with a suction port for Venturi injection of the washing fluid into the pressure relief flow;
a reservoir disposed inside the containment and fluidically connected to an inner space of the containment such that any overpressure, with respect to surroundings outside the containment, prevailing in the containment is transferred at least in part to said reservoir;
a supply line leading from said reservoir to said wet scrubber for supplying said wet scrubber with a fluid, acting as a washing fluid, from said reservoir;
said wet scrubber having a washing fluid tank sealed off from an inner space of the containment;
a throttle portion formed in a portion of said pressure relief line which is upstream of a point at which said pressure relief line opens inside said washing fluid tank; and
wherein said wet scrubber has an inner tank inside said washing fluid tank for the washing fluid, said inner tank surrounding said Venturi tube only in a region of said throat point and said suction port of said Venturi tube, a capacity of said inner tank is substantially smaller than a capacity of said washing fluid tank.

2. The pressure relief system according to claim 1 , wherein said reservoir is a pool which is open to the inner space of the containment.

3. The pressure relief system according to claim 1 , further comprising a filling level control means for the washing fluid supplied by said supply line, said filling level control means being a float valve inside said washing fluid tank.

4. The pressure relief system according to claim 1 , wherein said throttle portion is configured such that, at a start of a pressure-relieving process and at a pressure of at least 2 bar absolute inside the containment, a pressure inside said washing fluid tank is, in contrast, reduced by at least 0.3 bar.

5. The pressure relief system according to claim 1 , further comprising a throttle valve disposed in said pressure relief line downstream of said wet scrubber when viewed in a direction of flow of the pressure relief flow, and is configured for critical pressure relief of the pressure relief flow.

6. The pressure relief system according to claim 1 , wherein said reservoir is a sump of a pressurized water reactor.

7. The pressure relief system according to claim 1 , wherein said wet scrubber is kept dry when in a standby mode by a sealing device configured to open under accident conditions.

8. A nuclear power facility, comprising:
a containment; and
the pressure relief system according to claim 1 .

9. A method for operating a pressure relief system, including the pressure relief system of claim 1 , the method comprising the steps of:
during a pressure-relieving process, when the shut-off valve is open, conveying the fluid by means of the supply line from the reservoir to the wet scrubber as a result of a pressure differential, which adjusts according to a flow, between the containment and the wet scrubber.

Assignees

• Framatome Gmbh

Inventors

• Eckardt Bernd
• Losch Norbert
• Zehe Frank

Classifications

• G21C9/004 Primary

  Pressure suppression · CPC title

• G21C9/06

  Means for preventing accumulation of explosives gases, e.g. recombiners · CPC title

• G21C19/303

  specially adapted for gases (decontamination of gases G21F9/02) · CPC title

• G21D3/04

  Safety arrangements (emergency protection of reactor G21C9/00) · CPC title

• G21F9/02

  Treating gases · CPC title