Experimental Study of Hydrogen Combustion During DCH Events in Two Different Scales

Abstract

Hydrogen combustion tests were performed in two different size facilities to reproduce hydrogen effects during a severe accident with high pressure melt ejection (HPME) and direct containment heating (DCH). The hydrogen was blown out of a pressure vessel into a constrained compartment, modeling the reactor pressure vessel and the reactor pit, respectively, and from there into a large vessel, modeling the containment. A number of distributed igniters simulated hot melt particles. Tests with and without steam and with concentrations of preexisting hydrogen in the containment atmosphere between 0 and 8% were conducted. The paper presents results of two test series with eight and nine tests each.