Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The nuclear industry is undergoing a renaissance in Canada with the life extension of the Bruce A and Point Lepreau plants as well as potential new builds in Ontario and Alberta. A key objective of a nuclear utility is to optimize electricity production and maintain a safety first operation. Yet nuclear power plants age just as people do and phenomena such as erosion, corrosion, and deformation can affect the performance of components used in the safe production of electricity. The utilities are required to perform additional maintenance work and safety analyses to correct the ageing problems or reduce reactor power to maintain safety margins. The main purpose of this research program is to study the impact of ageing phenomena upon two-phase flow. Existing ageing phenomena such as flow accelerated corrosion and pressure tube diametral creep is affecting the flow rates, pressure drop, and heat transfer capability of the nuclear power plant. The flow accelerated corrosion is eroding the walls of the feeder pipes making the surface conditions rougher which inhibits the flow. Experiments will be performed that will allow the study of the surface roughness ageing effect upon two-phase flow. Additional work will be done using Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) forces to improve the heat transfer and fluid flow allowing for future development of improved safety devices. The information derived in this work can be used as a building block for mechanistic models to improve the performance and safety margins. The key to this work is the development of advanced neutron radiography and ultrasonic techniques which allow us to visualize two-phase flow inside metal structures. The undergraduate and graduate students studying this work will be trained with a better understanding of nuclear power plants, ageing phenomena, two-phase flow measurement techniques, and modelling techniques.