Containment analysis on the PHEBUS FPT-0, FPT-1 and FPT-2 experiments

In a severe accident, most of the fission-product species are already condensed in aerosols when they are released to the containment. The behaviour of these aerosol particles controls the fission-product transport into the containment and affects the global Source Term. The calculations presented here were performed using the CPA module (Containment Package implemented in the European integral code ASTEC) for the in-pile PHEBUS FPT-0, FPT-1 and FPT-2 experiments and are focused on the aerosol transport. A detailed thermal-hydraulic model was used in the CPA/ASTEC code to evaluate the gas circulation pattern in the closed containment volume. The comparison of ASTEC results showed that the patterns are similar to the ones predicted by the CFD-based codes. Good agreement was reached with the measured average thermo-hydraulic parameters such as containment gas pressure, temperature and the condensation rate on the condensers. The calculations with the detailed simulation of the flow in the PHEBUS containment qualitatively predicted the particle settling on the elliptic bottom and deposition on the painted wet condenser surfaces. It was shown that the influence of the gas circulation leads to a relatively quick mixing of aerosols in the containment atmosphere. In the tests investigated, the effect of the gas circulation on the airborne aerosol mass during the aerosol injection period is small because the injected mass flux is significantly higher compared to the deposition fluxes on the vessel surfaces. During the long-term aerosol deposition phase, the flow fields predicted by CPA/ASTEC have a medium impact on the evolution of the airborne mass in the PHEBUS containment.