Condensation induced water hammer: Numerical prediction

Contact of steam and subcooled water in a pipe or a pressurized vessel leads to intensive condensation accompanied by a pressure drop in the volume of condensing steam and an acceleration of the surrounding water mass towards the steam volume, which can result in a severe water hammer and plant damage. This phenomenon is known as the condensation induced water hammer (CIWH). A one-fluid model is developed for the prediction of pressure surges during CIWH. It is shown that the reliable prediction of pressure surges strongly depends on the calculation of the condensation rate, transient friction and the water column–steam interface tracking. Due to the lack of the CIWH condensation models, a new approach is derived. The one-fluid model predictions of pressure surges are compared with available measured data from a CIWH experimental facility and acceptable agreements are obtained. In addition, the ability of the developed model to simulate the water cannon event, which takes place during the steam drainage into the pool of subcooled water, is demonstrated. Experimentally observed considerable scattering of test data under the same conditions is related to the condensation rate and its dependence on the entrained droplets–steam interfacial area concentration in the vicinity of the water column head.