Progress of Cryogenics and Isotopes Separation , ISSN: 1582-2575
2018, Volume 21, Issue 1

Some failure modes of ICSI cryogenic distillation system as basis for safety analysis

Abstract

The Pilot Plant (PETSD) for T₂ and D₂ separation from Rm. Valcea (Romania) is an experimental facility built to confirm the technological data and the functional characteristics of equipment for designing and construction of an industrial facility capable to process the tritiated heavy water from Units 1 and 2 from NPP Cernavoda. The technology employed is based on Liquid Phase Catalytic Exchange (LPCE) and Cryogenic Distillation (CD) processes and the whole system is in pre-operation stage.
The CD system consists of a cascade of four distillation columns placed inside a vacuum insulated cold box and a refrigeration unit which provides the cooling capacity for the columns condensers.
This paper analyzes some common but critical scenarios due to single failure mode or a combination of failures such as loss of cooling capacity, loss of cooling agent into the columns, and loss of electric power (loss of cooling power and vacuum system shut down), cases seen as conservatives for the system in order to investigate the behavior during abnormal operation or accident, as basis for safety analysis for the system.
The study presented in the paper is concerning the Pilot Plant for T2 and D2 separation from Rm. Valcea but gives information and some references for the methodology that can be implemented for CD System from NPP Cernavoda and ITER Isotope Separation System.