Statics and Dynamics of a Natural Circulation Cooled Boiling Water Reactor

摘要

Due to the strong interconnection of the various processes in the reactor vessel of a natural circulation cooled boiling water reactor (BWR), explaining the physics of both the statics and the dynamics of the Dodewaard reactor is not an easy task. In this thesis, the physics is studied through a combined experimental and theoretical investigation. The experiments are analyzed further with the use of the model, and the results of the model calculations provide ideas for new experiments. For an experimental study of the reactor behavior, measurement tools are required. Many relevant process variables are supplied by the power plant's data-logger, but a direct method for measuring the circulation flow rate is not available. Reactor behavior can be studied theoreticallly with the use of a complex computer code, based on a multi-node model. In this way, reliable results are obtained. In many cases, however, such a code is not easy to use, and the calculations require much computer time. Calculations based on a simple model have a lower reliability, but, as the model is clearer, provide more insight into the physics of the system. For this reason, a simple theoretical dynamical model for the main physical processes of the Dodewaard natural circulation cooled BWR is presented in the thesis.