Coolant Flow Instabilities in Power Equipment

This book offers an analysis and generalization of various thermal-hydraulic coolant flow instabilities that occur in power equipment components of thermal and nuclear stations and have been reported in the published technical literature. The authors examine numerous examples of instability expression in a range of equipment including boilers, reactors, steam generators, condensers, heat exchangers, turbines, pumps, deaerators, bubblers, and pipelines. In addition to the traditional sections, the book includes material that, until recently, has not been reflected in monographs and education literature.

Thermal-hydraulic instability can potentially impair thermal reliability of reactor cores or other power equipment components. Thus it is important to address stability issues in power equipment associated with thermal and nuclear installations, particularly in thermal nuclear power plants, chemical and petroleum industries, space technology, and radio, electronic, and computer cooling systems. Coolant Flow Instabilities in Power Equipment synthesizes results from instability investigations around the world, presenting an analysis and generalization of the published technical literature.

The authors include individual examples on flow stability in various types of equipment, including boilers, reactors, steam generators, condensers, heat exchangers, turbines, pumps, deaerators, bubblers, and pipelines. They also present information that has not been widely available until recently, such as thermal-acoustic instability, flow instability with supercritical parameters, and single-phase coolant flow static instability. The material described in this book is derived from vast amounts of experimental data from thermal-physical test facilities and full-scale installations. It is presented in a manner accessible to readers without advanced mathematical backgrounds.

Particular attention has been paid to oscillatory (low-frequency and thermal-acoustic) and static thermal-hydraulic coolant flow instability. In addition, the physical mechanism of instability has been considered in detail. This book provides knowledge of the various types of flow instability, the equipment where this instability can manifest, and the ensuing consequences, as well as makes recommendations concerning possible removal or mitigation of these consequences. The authors provide this information as a useful reference for readers to facilitate the enhanced safety of modern power equipment through qualitative evaluation of design and flow parameters and subsequent selection of the optimal means for increasing flow stability.