Assessing the factors affecting the water chemistry parameters in the auxiliary water system of a nuclear power plant
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Assessing the factors affecting the water chemistry parameters in the auxiliary water system of a nuclear power plant Parasuraman Suganya1,3 · Ganapathiraman Swaminathan1 · Bhargavan Anoop2 · G. V. R. R. S. G. Siva Prasad3 · Jaganathan Nagarajan3 Received: 17 July 2020 / Accepted: 13 October 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Cooling towers are used as a final heat sink which cools the reactor auxiliary systems and transfers the heat energy to the atmosphere. The reliability endowed upon the cooling tower operation in a nuclear power plant is considerably high when compared to other power plants since the proper functioning of auxiliary systems is crucial for the decay heat removal from the core. Hence, appropriate chemistry control is mandatory in the operation of cooling towers for corrosion control, scale prevention, and control of biological growth. The operating data and water chemistry parameters like conductivity, turbidity, free residual chlorine, pH, cycles of concentration, chlorides, hardness, and alkalinity are analyzed for a typical nuclear power plant. The effect of the individual water quality parameter is correlated by the Pearson matrix to find its influence on the system water chemistry parameter. It is observed that the build-up of chloride ions in the cooling water is the major contributing factor for the cooling tower feed and bleed operations. The aspect of reducing the feed and bleed operation is analyzed, and suitable modifications are suggested to reduce water consumption. Keyword Cooling tower · Blowdown · Water chemistry · Cooling water · Corrosion control · Water reduction Abbreviations CT Cooling tower TDS Total dissolved solids EC Electrical conductivity COC Cycle of concentration FRC Free residual chlorine M-alk Methyl orange alkalinity P-alk Phenolphthalein alkalinity LSI Langelier saturation index RSI Ryznar stability index Turb. Turbidity TH Total hardness CH Calcium hardness MH Magnesium hardness
1 Introduction A typical nuclear power plant encompasses reactor core, reactor containment system, safety-related primary and secondary heat transport systems, conventional and steam-water systems, electrical and instrumentation systems, fuel handling, and radioactive waste management systems. Most of the components and instruments deployed in the above systems require cooling water systems for regular operation. Failure of cooling water system is critical and hence, is provided with Class: III power supply sourced from diesel generators to increase the availability of safety-related nuclear systems during normal and accident conditions [1]. Auxiliary cooling water systems are required for heat removal from safety-related components like compressors, safety-related unit coolers, nitrogen
* Parasuraman Suganya, [email protected] | 1Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu, India. 2Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, India. 3PFBR Project, Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limi
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