Valve core shapes analysis on flux through control valves in nuclear power plants

Abstract

Control valves are widely used to regulate fluid flux in nuclear power plants, and there are more than 1500 control valves in the primary circuit of one nuclear power plant. With their help, the flux can be regulated to a specific level of water or steam to guarantee the energy efficiency and safety of the nuclear power plant. The flux characteristics of the control valve mainly depend on the valve core shape. In order to analyze the effects of valve core shapes on flux characteristics of control valves, this paper focuses on the valve core shapes. To begin with, numerical models of different valve core shapes are established, and results are compared with the ideal flux characteristics curve for the purpose of validation. Meanwhile, the flow fields corresponding to different valve core shapes are investigated. Moreover, relationships between the valve core opening and the outlet flux under different valve core shapes are carried out. The flux characteristics curve and equation are proposed to predict the outlet flux under different valve core openings. This work can benefit the further research of the flux control and the optimization of the valve core for control valves in nuclear power plants.

Keywords

• Control valve
• Valve core shape
• Flux regulation
• Flux characteristics curve
• Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)