Method and apparatus for a high-temperature deposition solution injector

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a deposition solution injector for a nuclear reactor that may inject an ambient temperature deposition solution into a high temperature, high pressure feed-water flow line. The method and the apparatus ensures that the deposition solution is delivered in a location within the feed-water that is beyond a boundary layer of flowing water, to prevent smearing of the solution and prevent clogging of the deposition solution within the injector. The axial cross-sectional profile of the injector, and the location of an injection slot on the injector, may reduce vortex eddy flow of the feed-water into the injector to further reduce injector blockage.

Claims

1. A method of injecting a deposition solution into a high-temperature feed-water pipe, comprising: determining an expected boundary layer depth of fluid flowing within the feed-water pipe, inserting an injection tube of an injector through a side of the feed-water pipe so that a longitudinal length of the injection tube is positioned to traverse the fluid flowing within the feed-water pipe, the injection tube defining an injection slot along a portion of the longitudinal length of the injection tube, extending the injection tube into the feed-water pipe such that the injection slot extends beyond the expected depth of the boundary layer, rotating the injection tube to locate the injection slot on a downstream side of the injection tube, relative to a direction of the fluid flowing within the feed-water pipe, injecting, using the injector, the deposition solution into the feed-water pipe, wherein the extending of the injection tube into the feed-water pipe includes the distal end of the injection tube being extended into the feed-water pipe, a distal-most end of the injection tube being extended into the feed-water pipe by no more than 20% greater than the expected depth of the boundary layer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the inserting inserts an injection tube having an axial cross-section with an oval-shape with two tapered ends, the injection slot being located on one of the tapered ends.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the inserting inserts an injection tube having an axial cross-section with a circular shape.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the inserting inserts an injection tube having a cross-sectional area of the injection slot that is sized to cause a flow velocity of the deposition solution exiting the injection slot to be about equal to a flow velocity of the fluid flowing in the feed-water pipe.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: connecting the feed-water pipe to a nuclear reactor, the nuclear reactor being located downstream of the injector, wherein the deposition solution is sodium hexahydroxyplatinate.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the injecting of the deposition solution into the feed-water pipe is accomplished via a chemical feed skid and positive displacement pumps.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the inserting inserts an injection tube through a side of the feed-water pipe so that the longitudinal length of the injection tube is positioned about perpendicular with the fluid flowing within the feed-water pipe.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the injection slot is offset from the distal end of the injection tube.

9. A method of injecting a deposition solution into a high-temperature feed-water pipe, comprising: determining an expected boundary layer depth of fluid flowing within the feed-water pipe, inserting an injection tube of an injector through a side of the feed-water pipe so that a longitudinal length of the injection tube is positioned to traverse the fluid flowing within the feed-water pipe, the injection tube defining an injection slot along a portion of the longitudinal length of the injection tube, extending the injection tube into the feed-water pipe such that the injection slot extends beyond the expected depth of the boundary layer, rotating the injection tube to locate the injection slot on a downstream side of the injection tube, relative to a direction of the fluid flowing within the feed-water pipe, injecting, using the injector, the deposition solution into the feed-water pipe, wherein the inserting inserts an injection tube having a cross-sectional area of the injection slot that is sized to cause a flow velocity of the deposition solution exiting the injection slot to be about equal to a flow velocity of the fluid flowing in the feed-water pipe, wherein the extending of the injection tube into the feed-water pipe includes a distal end of the injection tube being extended into the feed-water pipe, a distal-most end of the injection tube being extended into the feed-water pipe by no more than 20% greater than the expected depth of the boundary layer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other features and advantages of example embodiments will become more apparent by describing in detail, example embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. The accompanying drawings are intended to depict example embodiments and should not be interpreted to limit the intended scope of the claims. The accompanying drawings are not to be considered as drawn to scale unless explicitly noted.

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional boiling water nuclear reactor (BWR) including deposition solution injection;

(3) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional deposition solution injector configuration;

(4) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a deposition solution injector configuration, in accordance with an example embodiment;

(5) FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a distal end of an injector, in accordance with an example embodiment; and

(6) FIG. 4B is an axial, cross-sectional view A-A of the injector of FIG. 4A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) Detailed example embodiments are disclosed herein. However, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely representative for purposes of describing example embodiments. Example embodiments may, however, be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein.

(8) Accordingly, while example embodiments are capable of various modifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit example embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but to the contrary, example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of example embodiments. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description of the figures.

(9) It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term and/or includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

(10) It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being connected or coupled to another element, it may be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being directly connected or directly coupled to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., between versus directly between, adjacent versus directly adjacent, etc.).

(11) The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms a, an and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms comprises, comprising,, includes and/or including, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

(12) It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

(13) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a deposition solution injector configuration 32, in accordance with an example embodiment. The injector configuration 32 includes a hollow injector tube 30 with a distal end 30a that extends beyond the inner surface of the feed-water line 4a. In particular, the distal end 30a of the injector 30 may extend beyond a determined boundary layer of the bulk flow of fluids traveling through the feed-water line 4a. The depth of the boundary layer (and, the required length X of the distal end 30a of the injector 30) may vary depending upon the temperature and velocity of the feed-water. The depth of the boundary layer may also vary depending on the type of fluid flowing in the feed-water line 4a (with potentially varying viscosity), the diameter and material of the feed-water line 4a, as well as other parameters known to impact the Reynolds number (and resulting boundary layer depth) of fluid flowing in the feed-water line 4a. It should therefore be understood that the length X should at least be long enough to extend beyond the boundary layer of the fluid flowing in the feed-water line 4a.

(14) Deposition solution injector configuration 32 also includes a pipe stub 16a with an inner diameter that matches or slightly exceeds the outer diameter of injector 30. This pipe stub 16a provides support to minimize vibration stresses in the injector 30 caused by feed-water flow forces.

(15) The inner diameter of the injector 30 may also contribute to potential blockage caused by deposited material, if the deposition material is heated to high temperatures as it flows to the distal end 30a of injector 30. For this reason, the inside diameter of the injector 30 should be sized to be sufficiently small, ensuring that the deposition solution flows quickly through the hot region adjacent to the feed-water line 4a. For a 50-120 cm.sup.3/minute flow rate of deposition solution through the injector 30, a inch inner diameter of the injector 30 would result in flow velocities of 3-9 inches/second. This would cause the deposition solution to be in the hot region for less than a second, ensuring that the deposition solution does not degrade during this short period.

(16) FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a distal end 30a of an injector 30, in accordance with an example embodiment. The injector 30 is provided with an injection slot 30b located on a downstream side of the injector (specifically, the injector slot 30b is downstream of the feed-water flow passing across the distal end 30a of the injector 30). By locating the injection slot 30b on the downstream side of the injector 30, the slot 30b is somewhat sheltered from the high pressure flow of the feed-water, thereby reducing the potential for the injector 30 to become clogged by deposited material.

(17) The injector should be sized to ensure that the entire injection slot 30b should extend beyond the boundary layer of flowing feed-water, just as the distal end 30a of the injector should extend beyond the boundary layer (as described in FIG. 3). This ensures that the deposition solution may be fully injected into the bulk flow of feed-water in the feed-water line 4a without experiencing unnecessarily high deposition of platinum ions on the inside of the feed-water line 4a. For this reason, length Y (the injector length from the inner surface of the feed-water line 4a to the opening of the injection slot 30b) must extend beyond the boundary layer of the feed-water. As described in FIG. 3, the boundary layer depth may vary depending on the temperature and velocity of the feed-water, the type of fluid flowing in the feed-water line, the diameter and material of the feed-water line, etc. As an example, for a 16 inch diameter feed-water line 4a with flowing water in a range of 15-20 feet/second at a temperature of 260-420 F., a length Y of 1 inch is adequate to ensure that the entire injection slot 30b extends beyond the boundary layer of fluids flowing in the feed-water line 4a.

(18) The size of the injection slot 30b itself may also impact blockage of the injector 30. Therefore, the cross-sectional area of the injection slot 30b should be sized to ensure that the exit velocity of the deposition solution approximately matches the feed-water flow velocity, ensuring that feed-water eddy flows do not enter the injection slot 30b and cause deposition and possible blockage.

(19) The injection slot 30b may be located a distance below the very distal end 30a of the injector 30 (notice offset 30d), to further shelter the injection slot 30b from the high pressures of the feed-water flow. However, the distal end 30a of the injector 30 should not extend too far beyond the depth of the feed-water boundary layer. By not extending the distal end 30a of the injector too far beyond the location of the boundary layer, bending and damage to the injector 30 by the high velocity feed-water flow may be avoided. Therefore, length X (the full length of the distal end 30a of the injector extending within the feed-water line 4a) should be no more than about 20% greater than the required length Y.

(20) FIG. 4B is an axial, cross-sectional view A-A of the injector 30 of FIG. 4A. As discussed in FIG. 4A, the injection slot 30b may be located on a downstream side of the injector 30 (the downstream side, meaning downstream of the feed-water flow direction). The axial cross-sectional profile 30c of the injector may be a tapered, oval-shape with two acute ends (as shown in FIG. 4B), to hydrodynamically reduce feed-water fluid forces that may be experienced at the interface between the injection slot 30b and the bulk flow of the feed-water. The injection slot 30b may be located on the downstream-facing acute end of the injector 30 (as it is shown in FIG. 4B). The axial cross-sectional profile 30c may also be circular, square, or some other shape, so long as the injection slot 30b is located on the downstream side of the injector 30 to minimize eddy flow of incident feed-water that may enter into the injector 30.

(21) Example embodiments having thus been described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the intended spirit and scope of example embodiments, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.