Passive containment spray system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10319481-B2
Application number	US-201414272421-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 7, 2014
Priority date	May 9, 2013
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

Provided is a passive containment spray system including: a spray coolant storage unit that communicates with a containment accommodating a reactor vessel and maintains equilibrium of pressure between the spray coolant storage unit and the containment; a spray pipe that is installed within the containment in such a manner that when an accident occurs, a coolant supplied from the spray coolant storage unit is sprayed into the containment through the spray pipe due to an increase in pressure within the containment; and a connection pipe one end of which is inserted into the spray coolant storage unit in such a manner as to provide a flow path along which the coolant flows and the other end of which is connected to the spray pipe in such a manner that the coolant is passively supplied to the spray pipe through the connection pipe therein.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A passive containment spray system comprising:
a spray coolant storage unit installed within a containment accommodating a reactor vessel and configured to store coolant and air therein, the air within the spray coolant storage unit fluidly communicates with air within the containment such that the spray coolant storage unit maintains equilibrium of pressure with the containment;
a spray pipe that is installed within the containment in such a manner that when an accident occurs, the coolant supplied from the spray coolant storage unit is sprayed into the containment through the spray pipe due to an increase in pressure within the containment;
a connection pipe having one end inserted into the spray coolant storage unit to provide a flow path along which the coolant flows, and the other end connected to the spray pipe to supply the coolant passively to the spray pipe when the pressure within the containment increases due to an occurrence of an accident and a flow of the coolant occurs therein, and
a check valve installed in the spray pipe such that steam discharged into the containment or air is prevented from being introduced through the spray pipe into the connection pipe, the check valve being opened in a direction toward the spray pipe by a flow of the coolant from the spray coolant storage unit such that the coolant within the spray coolant storage unit flows through the spray pipe, wherein
the connection pipe includes:
an upward flow path portion inserted into the spray coolant storage unit and extending up to a predetermined height such that the flow of the coolant from the spray coolant storage unit to the spray pipe is prevented from occurring within a normal plant operation pressure range for the containment; and
a downward flow path portion extending downward from the upward flow path portion and connected to the spray pipe such that the coolant is supplied continuously to the spray pipe therethrough due to a difference of a gravitational head of water, and
the check valve is configured to form a pressure difference between an inside of the connection pipe and a target space of spraying in the containment until the check valve is opened when the flow of coolant occurs at a height of the upward flow path portion or above,
the passive containment spray system further comprises:
a diverged pipe having one end connected to the downward flow path portion and the other end exposed to air; and
an isolation valve installed in the diverged pipe, and configured to be opened by an operator to prevent an occurrence of the flow of the coolant from the spray coolant storage unit by forming an equilibrium of pressure between an inside of the connection pipe and an outsider of the connection pipe when a nuclear power plant is in a normal plant operation condition, or when the spray coolant storage unit is in maintenance,
an intermediate cavity unit installed around the other end of the connection pipe to enhance the flow of the coolant that occurs in a direction from the spray coolant storage unit to the connection pipe, the intermediate cavity unit generating a difference in pressure from the spray coolant storage unit, and connected to the spray pipe to supply the coolant that passes through the connection pipe to the spray pipe,
wherein the spray coolant storage unit and the intermediate cavity unit do not share a common wall.

2. The passive containment spray system of claim 1 , wherein
the upward flow path portion is configured to provide a flow path along which the coolant flows when the pressure within the containment increases; and
the downward flow path portion is configured to provide a flow path along which the coolant flows when the pressure within the containment increases and the flow of the coolant occurs at the height of the upward flow path portion or above.

3. The passive containment spray system of claim 2 , wherein a cross-sectional area provided in the upward flow path portion and a cross-sectional area provided in the downward flow path portion are different from each other to facilitate discharging of gas that is filled in the connection pipe.

4. The passive containment spray system of claim 1 , further comprising a check valve installed in a pipe that is connected to an upper portion of the intermediate cavity unit, and opened to discharge gas within the intermediate cavity unit when pressure within the intermediate cavity unit is greater than that within the containment due to the coolant through the connection pipe.

5. The passive containment spray system of claim 4 , further comprising an orifice installed in the pipe to limit an amount of flowing fluid discharged through the check valve.

6. The passive containment spray system of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the check valve installed in the pipe connected to the upper portion of the intermediate cavity unit and the cheek valve installed in the spray pipe is provided in plurality to prevent the passive containment spray system from malfunctioning due to a single failure.

7. The passive containment spray system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one spray nozzle connected to the spray pipe to spray the coolant into the containment therethrough.

8. The passive containment spray system of claim 1 , wherein the spray coolant storage unit is installed at a predetermined height inside of the containment to allow for spraying of the coolant due to a gravitational head of water, and is maintained in an opened state to achieve equilibrium of pressure between the spray coolant storage unit and the containment.

9. A nuclear power plant comprising:
a reactor vessel;
a containment that is installed outside of the reactor vessel such that radioactive material is prevented from releasing from the reactor vessel to outside of the containment; and
a passive containment spray system,
wherein the passive containment spray system includes:
a spray coolant storage unit installed within a containment accommodating the reactor vessel and configured to store coolant and air therein, the air within the spray coolant storage unit fluidly communicates with air within the containment such that the spray coolant storage unit maintains equilibrium of pressure between the spray coolant storage unit and with the containment,
a spray pipe that is installed within the containment in such a manner that when an accident occurs, the coolant supplied from the spray coolant storage unit is sprayed into the containment through the spray pipe due to an increase in pressure within the containment building, and
a connection pipe having one end inserted into the spray coolant storage unit to provide a flow path along which the coolant flows, and the other end connected to the spray pipe to supply the coolant passively to the spray pipe when the pressure within the containment increases due to an occurrence of an accident and a flow of the coolant occurs therein, and
a check valve installed in the spray pipe such that steam discharged into the containment or air is prevented from being introduced through the spray pipe into the connection pipe, the check valve being opened in a direction toward the spray pipe by a flow of the coolant from the spray coolant storage unit such that the coolant within the spray coolant storage unit flows through the spray pipe, wherein
the connection pipe includes:
an upward flow path portion inserted into the spray coolant storage unit and extending up to a predetermined height such that the flow of the coolant from the spray coolant storage unit to the spray pipe is prevented from occurring within a normal plant operation pressure range for the containment; and
a downward flow path portion extending downward from the upward flow

Assignees

• Korea Atomic Energy Res

Inventors

• Kim Young In
• Shin Soo Jai
• Kang Han Ok
• Kim Keung Koo
• Yoon Ju Hyeon
• Kim Tae Wan
• Ha Jae Joo

Classifications

• G21C15/18 Primary

  Emergency cooling arrangements; Removing shut-down heat · CPC title

• G21C15/12

  from pressure vessel; from containment vessel · CPC title

• G21D3/06

  responsive to faults within the plant (in the reactor G21C9/00) · CPC title

• G21C13/02

  Details · CPC title

• Y02E30/40

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic