ML20149E417
| ML20149E417 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/08/1995 |
| From: | Malliakos A NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY RESEARCH (RES) |
| To: | Royen J ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION & DEVELOPMENT |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20149E342 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-97-129 NUDOCS 9707180188 | |
| Download: ML20149E417 (2) | |
Text
. - . . - - .
N
- ,- September 8,' 1995 i
Dr.~Jacques Royen Nuclear Safety Division '
-0 ECD Nuclear Energy Agency
,1;f Seine-Saint Germain
- 12 Boulevard des Iles F-92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux.
France 1;
Dear Dr. Royen:
In response. to the preliminary announ'c'ement and call for papers for the 0 ECD workshop on the implementation of hydrogen mitigation techniques,
. enclosed please find 10 copies of the abstract " Performance Testing of Passive Autocatalytic Recombiners-(PARS)." The paper should be in the Technology Section, Topic 2.1 (performance claims and their validation). ,
Sincerely,
/S/
Asimios Halliakos Accident Evaluation Branch Division of" Systems Technology Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research ,
Enclosure:
As stated Distribution:
DST Chron, AEB r/f, Malliakos, Malliakos r/f, Rubin, Ader, King, Hodges CF Y 'b, -
iN/
PDR_ Y DOCUMENT NAME: RoyenJtr DISK: Asimios #4 T3 teceive o copy of tNo document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without enclosures *E* = Copy with enclosures *N" = No copy 0FFICE AEB/ DST /RES l _,, AEB l AEB lC l l NAME Malliakos/pa # Rubin ~ - AderofO DATE 09/Af/95 09/t,/95 09/C/95 09/ /95 09/ /95 OfflCIAL RECORD COPY (RES File Code) RES ZI 5 (If more than~one file Code) RES
'b 9707190188 970702 ,
PDR FOIA e-WILLIArt97-129 POR i ,
Y Performance Testing of Passive Autocatalytic .
Recombiners- (PARS) :
T. Blanchat 'A. Malliakos Sandia National Laborato.-tes U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Albuouerque, NM 87185-5800 Washington, DC. 20555-0001-Passive autocatalytic recombiners (PARS) have been under consideration iri the U.S. as a combustible gas control system in advanced light water-reactor
~ (ALWR) containments for design basis and severe accidents. PARS do not require a source of power. Instead they use palladium as a catalyst to recombine hydrogen and oxygen gases into water vapor upon contact with the catalyst. Energy'from the recombination of hydrogen with oxygen is_ released
.at a relatively slow but continuous rate into the containment which prevents the pressure from becoming too high. The heat produced creates strong buoyancy effects which increases the influx of the surrounding gases to the' r'ecombiner. These natural convective flow currents promote mixing of
- combustible gases in the containment. PARS are self-starting and self-feeding funder a very wide range of conditions. The recombination rate of the PAR system needs' to be great enough to keep the concentration of hydrogen (or oxygca) below.the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (USNRC) regulatory limits.
There are several catalytic recombiner concepts under development worldwide.
The USNRC is evaluating a specific design of a PAR which is in an advanced stage of engineering development and has been proposed for ALWR designs.
F Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), under the sponsorship and the direction of the USNRC, is conducting an experimental program to evaluate the performance of PARS. The possible candidates for experimental facilities to test a PAR are the SURTSEY facility (domed cylinder with a volume of 56m') and the Containment Technology Test Facility (CTTF) (domed cylinder with a volume of 282m') at SNL. The test plan currently includes the following experiments:
- Experiments will be conducted to define the startup characteristics of PARS (i.e., to define what is the lowest hydrogen concentration that the PAR starts recombing the hydrogen with oxygen).
- Experiments will be used to define the hydrogen depletion rate of PARS as a function of hydrogen concentration.
- - Experiments will be used to define the PAR performance in the presence of high concentrations of steam.
The tests'are currently planned to be performed in the beginning of calendar
_ year 1996. . The presentation in the workshcp *.4111 include the configuration of the test facility, _ instrumentation, initial test conditions, test results, and
' preliminary interpretation of tests results.
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