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<strong>atw</strong> Vol. 63 (<strong>2018</strong>) | Issue 8/9 ı August/September<br />
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION 460<br />
| | Fig. 4.<br />
Tempearature and Hydrogen Concetration at the Exit of Test Device of Periodic Inspection<br />
(New Catalyst: 3 % hydrogen and air mixture at 60 °C and 1 bar).<br />
shows temperature rise behavior of<br />
new catylists, which shows a similar<br />
trend with time. Therefore, the PAR<br />
supplier suggested the accepatance<br />
criteria of the periodic inspection as<br />
the temperature rise at a given time<br />
(The exact values of temperature rise<br />
and time are not described in this<br />
paper because that information is a<br />
supplier’s proprietary). Figure 5<br />
shows temperature rise bebavior of<br />
catylists that were exposed to containment<br />
air during one overhaul period.<br />
The behavior of temperature rise is<br />
affected by the existence of VOC.<br />
Some catalysts showed delayed startup<br />
of hydrogen recombination and<br />
others showed further increase of<br />
temperature by combustion of VOC<br />
itself. Figure 5 also shows the hydrogen<br />
volume faction of air-hyrogen<br />
mixture at the outlet of the test device.<br />
It showed that the hydrogen recombination<br />
already started although<br />
the temperature does not reach the<br />
required value. Therefore, there is a<br />
possibility of unneccesary failure of<br />
plant inspection with the current<br />
method by temperature rise. This<br />
method requires relatively long test<br />
time because of larger heat capacity of<br />
ceramic structure. In addition, it is<br />
difficult to correlate the hydrogen<br />
recombination performance with the<br />
amount of temperature rise and test<br />
time. Threfore, we decided to change<br />
the inspection method from the temperature<br />
rise to the direct measurement<br />
of hydrogen concentration with<br />
new acceptance criterion.<br />
Under the VOC-affected conditions,<br />
the performance of PAR is hard<br />
to identify through the current perioic<br />
inspection method because the startup<br />
delayed time and the hydrogen<br />
removal rate are defined under the<br />
| | Fig. 5.<br />
Tempearature and Hydrogen Concetration at the Exit of Test Device of Periodic Inspection<br />
(After the Exposue of One Overhaul Period to Containment Air, 3 % hydrogen and<br />
air mixture at 60 °C and 1 bar).<br />
natural convection conditions. Therefore,<br />
a number of catalysts are withdrawn<br />
out of containment during an<br />
overhaul period of each plant and<br />
their performance is tested in the PAR<br />
performance test facility (PPTF) under<br />
the natural convection conditions.<br />
A total of 152 tests are performed<br />
with 608 catalyst samples to investigate<br />
the effect of volatile organic<br />
compounds (VOC) on the startup<br />
performance on the hydrogen<br />
removal. The catalyst samples are<br />
taken from seventeen (17) plants with<br />
four (4) different reactor types. For<br />
plants C, D, F, H and M, the tests are<br />
performed twice in the first and<br />
second outage period to compare test<br />
resuts between the first and the<br />
second outages in the same plant.<br />
Figure 6 shows the measured start-up<br />
delay times in conditions of hydrogen<br />
of 3 vol. %, temperature of 60 °C and<br />
pressure of 1.5 bar. These test conditions<br />
are selected because a start-up<br />
delay time is considered after the<br />
hydrogen concentration and the<br />
temperature reached at both 3 vol. %<br />
and 60 °C in the analysis of hydrogen<br />
control to determine the capacity<br />
and locations of PARs as a hydrogen<br />
mitigation system [2]. Fifteen (15)<br />
minutes of the start-up delay time are<br />
assumed in severe accident analyses<br />
while 12 hours of the start-up delay<br />
time is assumed in design basis accident<br />
analysis [12]. For new catalysts a<br />
certain time is required until the flow<br />
is fully developed by naural convection.<br />
This time has been measured as<br />
about 404 sec with a standard deviation<br />
of 66.9 sec. As shown in Fig. 6,<br />
the start-up delay times are well<br />
within 15 minutes except the plants G<br />
and H. The start-up delay times for<br />
plant G and H1 show an average time<br />
of 1,006 sec and 893 sec with a<br />
standard deviation of 160 sec and<br />
215 sec, respectively. The total averaged<br />
start-up delay time for all plants<br />
is estimated as 660.6 sec with a standard<br />
deviation of 237.8 sec. For plants<br />
C, D, F, H and M, the second tests does<br />
not show a noticeable difference<br />
compared to its first tests.<br />
In the design basis accident such as<br />
a loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA),<br />
the hydrogen is generated gradually<br />
and the hydrogen concentration could<br />
be reached at 4 vol. % after several<br />
days without a hydrogen mitigation<br />
system after a LOCA takes places. In<br />
the analysis of hydrogen concentration<br />
in the LOCA, twelve (12) hours of<br />
the start-up delay time were assumed<br />
after the hydrogen concentration and<br />
the catalysts temperature reach at<br />
both 3 vol. % and 60 °C. Although the<br />
start-up delays of 12 hours are considered,<br />
there is a sufficient margin to<br />
maintain the hydrogen concentration<br />
below the regulatory limit of 4 vol. %.<br />
However, in the severe accident conditions,<br />
the hydrogen concentration in<br />
the containment abruptly increases at<br />
the timing of the reactor vessel failure<br />
so that the margin for start-up delay<br />
for hydrogen removal may not be<br />
sufficient compared to the situation of<br />
a design basis accident. The regulatory<br />
position in Korea is that the startup<br />
delay times should be verified and<br />
compared to the assumptions used in<br />
the analysis of hydrogen control in<br />
DBA and severe accident conditions.<br />
In the case of plant G, H and N, the<br />
analysis of hydrogen control in severe<br />
accident conditions has been re-evaluated<br />
with a longer delay time of<br />
30 minutes in consideration of the<br />
results of the start-up delay time<br />
measurement tests in 2014. For the<br />
Research and Innovation<br />
Effects of Airborne Volatile Organic Compounds on the Performance of Pi/TiO 2 Coated Ceramic Honeycomb Type Passive Autocatalytic Recombiner ı Chang Hyun Kim, Je Joong Sung, Sang Jun Ha and Phil Won Seo