Development of multi-stage steam injector for feedwater heaters in simplified nuclear power plant

Abstract

A steam injector (SI) is a simple, compact and passive pump and also acts as a high-performance direct-contact compact heater to heat up feedwater by using extracted steam from the turbine. To develop high performance compact feedwater heater, it is necessary to quantify the characteristics between physical properties of the flow field. Its performance depends on the phenomena of steam condensation onto the water jet surface and heat transfer in the water jet due to turbulence on to the phase-interface. The analysis was conducted by using CFD code embedded separate two-phase flow models that were confirmed by the experimental data. As the four-stage SI is compact heater, the system is expected to bring about great simplification and materials-saving effects, and high reliability of its operation. Therefore, it is confirmed that the simplification of the power plant by replacing all low-pressure feedwater heaters with the four-stag SI system, having steam extraction pressures equal to those for the existing ABWR system.