A Study on the Cause Analysis for the Wall Thinning and Leakage in Small Bore Piping Downstream of Orifice

Kyeong Mo Hwang, Chan Kyoo Lee, Cheong Ryul Choi

Power Engineering Research Institute, KEPCO-E&C, Yongin, South Korea.

DOI: 10.4236/wjnst.2014.41001                

Abstract

A number of components installed in the secondary system of nuclear power plants are exposed to aging mechanisms such as FAC (Flow-Accelerated Corrosion), Cavitation, Flashing, and LDIE (Liquid Droplet Impingement Erosion). Those aging mechanisms can lead to thinning of the components. In April 2013, one inch small bore piping branched from the main steam line experienced leakage resulting from wall thinning in a 1000 MWe Korean PWR nuclear power plant. During the normal operation, extracted steam from the main steam line goes to condenser through the small bore piping. The leak occurred in the downstream of an orifice. A control valve with vertical flow path was placed in front of the orifice. This paper deals with UT thickness data, SEM images, and numerical simulation results in order to analyze the extent of damage and the cause of leakage in the small bore piping. As a result, it is concluded that the main cause of the small bore pipe wall thinning is liquid droplet impingement erosion. Moreover, it is observed that the leak occurred at the reattachment point of the vortex flow in the downstream side of the orifice.

Keywords

Liquid Droplet Impingement Erosion (LDIE); Pipe Wall Thinning; Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM); Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD)

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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