Numerical simulation of hydrogen evolution upon interaction between zirconium melt and water

• Published in: High temperature Vol. 54; no. 4; pp. 526 - 535
• Main Authors: Melikhov, O. I., Melikhov, V. I., Rtishchev, N. A., Tarasov, A. E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-07-2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Atoms and Molecules in Strong Fields; Classical and Continuum Physics; Heat and Mass Transfer and Physical Gasdynamics; Hydrogen evolution; Hydrogen production; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Laser Matter Interaction; Materials Science; Nuclear power plants; Oxidation; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Pressurized water reactors; Steam electric power generation; Zirconium
• ISSN: 0018-151X; 1608-3156
• DOI: 10.1134/S0018151X16030135

The process of hydrogen generation upon interaction between a zirconium melt and water is studied. An oxidation model for zirconium liquid droplets in a water–steam medium was developed. The model was incorporated into the VAPEX computational code developed for calculation of interactions between core material melts and water during a severe accident at nuclear power plants equipped with pressurized water reactors. The modified VAPEX code was used to analyze the ZREX experiments on molten zirconium–water interactions. It was shown that the VAPEX code satisfactorily predicts the amount of the hydrogen generated during such an interaction.