Nuclear Power Plant Circuit Modeling: Hydraulic and Thermal Calculations

Javier Zornoza GarcĂ­a-Andrade - Iberdola Ingenieria (Spain)
Iberdola

Abstract

IBERDROLA ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION (IEC) is one of the world's leading electrical engineering companies, whose works includes project management throughout every phase, engineering, supply, construction and start-up, turnkey projects and operational support.
Its Nuclear Generation department uses FLOWMASTER for the development of hydraulic calculations for new projects and the assessment of existing circuits, mainly for maintenance and modification purposes. Furthermore, IEC has tested the thermal module of FLOWMASTER for the assessment of the cooling system of the COFRENTES NPP.
The modeling of three different systems done in the last years will be presented, as well as the results of the simulations in order to validate the main components (pumps, control valves, restriction orifices) of the system in the basic engineering phase of those projects. After the procurement phase of the projects, FLOWMASTER was also used to verify the As-Built configuration of the system and to confirm that the purchased components fulfill the functional requirements of the projects.
Finally, the thermal module assessment of the COFRENTES NPP cooling system will be presented, including a comparison with the results issued from the software currently used for the calculations of that system. This comparison allowed IEC to validate the module, while identifying modeling problems on the specifically customized component for the cooling tower and some convergence issues.