There are currently 72 commercial boiling water reactors (BWRs) in operation or under construction in the western world, 37 of them in the United States. Consequently, a great effort has been devoted to the study of BWR systems under a wide range of plant operating conditions. This paper represents a contribution to this ongoing effort; its objective is to study the basic dynamic processes in BWR systems, with special emphasis on the physical interpretation of BWR dynamics. The main thrust in this work is the development of phenomenological BWR models suited for analytical studies performed in conjunction with numerical calculations. This approach leads to a deeper understanding of BWR dynamics and facilitates the interpretation of numerical results given by currently available sophisticated BWR codes. 6 refs., 14 figs., 2 tabs.
Contents of this Doctoral Dissertation include: Understanding the linear stability characteristics of BWRs, Experiments on the stability of the Desire facility, Applications of the reducer-order model, Numerical analysis of the nonlinear dynamics of BWRs, Experiments on the nonlinear dynamics of natural-circulation two-phase flows, Experiments on the neutronic-thermalhydraulic stability, Conclusions and Discussion
Recent stability tests in Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) have indicated that these reactors can exhibit the special nonlinear behavior of following a closed trajectory called limit cycle. The existence of a limit cycle corresponds to an oscillation of fixed amplitude and period. During these tests, such oscillations had their amplitudes limited to about +- 15% of the operating power. Since limit cycles are fairly insensitive to parameter variations, it is possible to operate a BWR under conditions that sustain a limit cycle (of fixed amplitude and period) over a finite range of reactor parameters.
Linear and Non-Linear Stability Analysis in Boiling Water Reactors: The Design of Real-Time Stability Monitors presents a thorough analysis of the most innovative BWR reactors and stability phenomena in one accessible resource. The book presents a summary of existing literature on BWRs to give early career engineers and researchers a solid background in the field, as well as the latest research on stability phenomena (propagation phenomena in BWRs), nuclear power monitors, and advanced computer systems used to for the prediction of stability. It also emphasizes the importance of BWR technology and embedded neutron monitoring systems (APRMs and LPRMs), and introduces non-linear stability parameters that can be used for the onset detection of instabilities in BWRs. Additionally, the book details the scope, advantages, and disadvantages of multiple advanced linear and non linear signal processing methods, and includes analytical case studies of existing plants. This combination makes Linear and Non-Linear Stability Analysis in Boiling Water Reactors a valuable resource for nuclear engineering students focusing on linear and non-linear analysis, as well as for those working and researching in a nuclear power capacity looking to implement stability methods and estimate decay ratios using non-linear techniques. Explores the nuclear stability of Boiling Water Reactors based on linear and non-linear models Evaluates linear signal processing methods such as autoregressive models, Fourier-based methods, and wavelets to calculate decay ratios Proposes novel non-linear signal analysis techniques linked to non-linear stability indicators Includes case studies of various existing nuclear power plants as well as mathematical models and simulations
In the design of novel nuclear reactors active systems are replaced by passive ones in order to reduce the risk of failure. For that reason natural circulation is being considered as the primary cooling mechanism in next generation nuclear reactor designs such as the natural circulation boiling water reactor (BWR). In such a reactor, however, the flow is not a controlled parameter but is dependent on the power. As a result, the dynamical behavior significantly differs from that in conventional forced circulation BWRs. For that reason, predicting the stability characteristics of these reactors has to be carefully studied. In this work, a number of open issues are investigated regarding the stability of natural circulation BWRs (e.g. margins to instabilities at rated conditions, interaction between the thermal-hydraulics and the neutronics, and the occurrence of flashing induced instabilities) with a strong emphasis on experimental evidence.
This thesis is concerned with nonlinear analyses of BWR stability behaviour, contributing to a deeper understanding in this field. Despite negative feedback-coefficients of a BWR, there are operational points (OP) at which oscillatory instabilities occur. So far, a comprehensive and an in-depth understanding of the nonlinear BWR stability behaviour are missing, even though the impact of the significant physical parameters is well known. In particular, this concerns parameter regions in which linear stability indicators, like the asymptotic decay ratio, lose their meaning. Nonlinear stability analyses are usually carried out using integral (system) codes, describing the dynamical system by a system of nonlinear partial differential equations (PDE). One aspect of nonlinear BWR stability analyses is to get an overview about different types of nonlinear stability behaviour and to examine the conditions of their occurrence. For these studies the application of system codes alone is inappropriate. Hence, in the context of this thesis, a novel approach to nonlinear BWR stability analyses, called RAM-ROM method, is developed. In the framework of this approach, system codes and reduced order models (ROM) are used as complementary tools to examine the stability characteristics of fixed points and periodic solutions of the system of nonlinear differential equations, describing the stability behaviour of a BWR loop. The main advantage of a ROM, which is a system of ordinary differential equations (ODE), is the possible coupling with specific methods of the nonlinear dynamics. This method reveals nonlinear phenomena in certain regions of system parameters without the need for solving the system of ROM equations. The stability properties of limit cycles generated in Hopf bifurcation points and the conditions of their occurrence are of particular interest. Finally, the nonlinear phenomena predicted by the ROM will be analysed in more details by the system code. Hence, the thesis i.
We have studied the nuclear-coupled thermal-hydraulic stability of boiling water reactors (BWRs) using a model that includes: space-time modal neutron kinetics based on spatial w-modes; single- and two-phase flow in parallel boiling channels; fuel rod heat conduction dynamics; and a simple model of the recirculation loop. The BR model is represented by a set of time-dependent nonlinear ordinary differential equations, and is studied as a dynamical system using the modern bifurcation theory and nonlinear dynamical systems analysis. We first determine the stability boundary (SB) - or Hopf bifurcation set- in the most relevant parameter plane, the inlet-subcooling-number/external-pressure-drop plane, for a fixed control rod induced external reactivity equal to the 100% rod line value; then we transform the SB to the practical power-flow map used by BWR operating engineers and regulatory agencies. Using this SB, we show that the normal operating point at 100% power is very stable, that stability of points on the 100% rod line decreases as the flow rate is reduced, and that operating points in the low-flow/high-power region are least stable. We also determine the SB that results when the modal kinetics is replaced by simple point reactor kinetics, and we thereby show that the first harmonic mode does not have a significant effect on the SB. However, we later show that it nevertheless has a significant effect on stability because it affects the basin of attraction of stable operating points. Using numerical simulations we show that, in the important low-flow/high-power region, the Hopf bifurcation that occurs as the SB is crossed is subcritical; hence, growing oscillations can result following small finite perturbations of stable steady-states on the 100% rod line at points in the low-flow/high-power region. Numerical simulations are also performed to calculate the decay ratios (DRs) and frequencies of oscillations for various points on the 100% rod line. It is determined that the U.S. NRC requirement of DR is not rigorously satisfied in the low-flow/high-power region; hence, this region should be avoided during normal startup and shutdown operations. The frequency of oscillation is shown to decrease as the flow rate is reduced. Moreover, the simulation frequency of 0.5Hz determined in the low-flow/high-power region is consistent with those observed during actual instability incidents. Additional numerical simulations show that in the low-flow/high-power region, for the same initial conditions, the use of point kinetics leads to damped oscillations, whereas the model that includes the modal neutron kinetics equations results in growing nonlinear oscillations.
The main goal of the meeting was to facilitate and encourage the application of recent developments in the physical and mathematical sciences to the analysis of deterministic and stochastic processes in nuclear engineering. In contrast with the rapid growth (triggered by computer developments) of nonlinear analysis in other branches of the physical sciences, the theoretical analysis of nuclear reactors is still based on linearized models of the neutronics and thermal-hydraulic feedback loop, an approach that ignores some intrinsic nonlinearities of the real system. The subject of noise was added because of the importance of the noise technique in detecting abnormalities associated with perturbations of sufficient amplitude to generate nonlinear processes. Consequently the organizers of the meeting invited a group of leading researchers in the field of noise and nonlinear phenomena in nuclear systems to report on recent advances in their area of research. A selected subgroup of researchers in areas outside the reactor field provided enlightenment on new theoretical developments of immediate relevance to nuclear dynamics theory.
