FLOW ACCELERATED CORROSION MANAGEMENT USING BRT-CICERO™:PERFORMANCES AND FUTURE UPDATES

摘要

Flow accelerated corrosion is very effective for nuclear power plant. This generalized corrosion can lead to the rupture of pipe and in some dramatic cases killed operators. EDF has developed during these 20 last years a software called BRT-CICERO™ for the surveillance of the secondary piping system of its Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs). This software enables the operator to calculate the FAC wear rates taking into account all the influencing parameters such as: pipe isometrics, chromium content of the steel, chemical conditioning and operating parameters of the secondary circuit (temperature, pressure, etc.). This is a major tool for the operators to organize the maintenance and to plan the inspections.In the framework of the French pressure vessel law issued on March 15th 2000, the software BRT-CICERO™ has been recognized by the French authority for the FAC surveillance on the secondary pressure piping lines of the EDF 58 NPPs. It takes advantage of the experience feedback of the French fleet, of the R&D improvements and is frequently updated. A guideline is associated to BRT-CICERO™ to define the rules and the pipelines include into the susceptibility analysis, take advantage of all functionalities and take into account the rapid experience feedback.rnThis paper deals with the maintenance optimization performed at EDF with industrial key factors such as:rn1. chemical conditioning specificationsrn2. non-destructive testing shared on all unitsrn3. spare parts management with guaranteed chemical alloy contentsrn4. development of specific technical features in BRT-CICERO™ integrating the effects of local chemistry, specific thermodynamic behavior, statistical analysis of wall thickness measurement and computational fluid dynamics.