Susceptibility of CANDU® Steam Generator Preheater to Cavitation Erosion

Abstract

In 2009, Darlington Steam Generator (SG) tube inspections revealed some tubes had degraded in the preheater. The tube degradation occurred at the clearance gap between the tube and the preheater baffle and reached up to 50% through-wall depth at the baffles in the middle portion of the preheater. The general pattern of the damage and the elemental composition analysis suggested that the degradation was the result of a hydrodynamic process, such as cavitation erosion. Cavitation erosion occurs when vapour bubbles exist or form in the flowing liquid and then these bubbles collapse violently in the vicinity of the wall. These bubbles collapse when steam bubbles contact water that is sufficiently subcooled, below the saturation temperature. In the gap between the tube and the preheater baffle, low flow will exist due to the pressure difference across the baffle plate. In addition, heat transfer occurs from the primary-side fluid to the secondary-side fluid within this clearance gap that is driven by the primary-to-secondary temperature difference. Factors, such as the tube position in the baffle hole and fouling, influence the local conditions and can cause subcooled boiling that result in cavitation. This paper presents a study of flow and heat transfer phenomena to determine the factors contributing to cavitation erosion in SG preheaters. The analysis used the THIRST 1 code for a 3-dimensional thermalhydraulic simulation of the steam generators and the ANSYS FLUENT code for detailed calculations of flow and heat transfer in the clearance gaps. This study identifies that tubes in the preheater region are susceptible to cavitation erosion and indicates that this area should be part of the station inspection program because, regardless of preheater design, some tubes may experience the thermalhydraulic conditions and undergo degradations similar to those observed for the tubes in Darlington SGs.