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On: 06 December 2014, At: 10:24
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered
office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
To cite this article: Hiroshi TOCHIHARA (1982) Simple Functional Method for Calculating Axial
Power Distribution of PWR Core, Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 19:6, 449-459, DOI:
10.1080/18811248.1982.9734168
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18811248.1982.9734168
journal of NUCLEAR SciENCE and TECHNOLOGY, 19[6), pp. 449-459 (June 1982).
449
KEYWORDS: PWR type reactors, reactor core, axial power distribution, axial
offset, functional representation, xenon oscillation, on-site calculation, computer
calculation, errors
I.
INTRODUCTION
The axial power distribution through reactor core is an important factor in determining
the hot channel factor and DNBR of PWR cores, and is currently calculated individually
to cover various core conditions by means of one-dimensional (1-D) diffusion code. Detailed
-calculation by this method is known to provide realistic axial power distributions under
various core conditions including xenon oscillation oJ czJ. On the other hand, the recent
trend in PWR core, design is to limit the variation of axial power distribution during
power change by what is known as " constant axial offset control operation "csJ, aimed at
maintaining the hot channel factor within given limits, and this makes it important in
PWR operation to acquire precise knowledge of the axial power distribution and the axial
.offset. With this mode of operation, a requirement calling for operation in an unforeseen
pattern necessitates knowing the axial power distribution in advance of the actual change
brought upon the power level and control rod movement. Against this necessity, the
-computers currently equipping the reactor plants are only capable of calculating the axial
power distribution created under normal conditions of operationc 4l, but for other situations,
these computers are not provided to perform within the short time available the many
.sets of requisite calculations in so far as they are to be based on the 1-D diffusion code,
which demands much computer time as well as additional time for preparation.
The power distribution of a PWR is usually measured by in-core movable neutron
detectors only once or twice a month, whereas the axial offset can easily be measured
continuously by means of ex-core neutron detectors. It should therefore be most expedient
450
if a simple functional method could be devised to rapidly derive the axial power distribution from the information thus acquired on the axial offset. An attempt has been reported
of estimating the axial power distribution, from the signals of multi-positioned fixed incore detectors through Fourier fittingc 5 J. But this method cannot be applied to the case
where the reference information is supplied in the form of axial offset signals by ex-core
detectors.
The present report proposes a method by which the axial power distribution is
represented by cosine, exponential or similar simple function, with the axial offset adopted
as intermediate parameter.
The present method enables simple and timely calculation of the axial power distribution under various conditions of reactor operation solely based on axial offset data,
which are continually obtainable from ex-core neutron detectors. The application could
eventually be further developed into systems for monitoring power distribution and DNBR
in real time.
The following chapters present the theory of this simple functional method and the
results obtained from calculations therewith. Comparisons made with corresponding results
obtained with calculations by 1-D diffusion code reveal the present simple method to be
capable of calculating the axial power distribution of a PWR core with ample precision.
ll.
The current practice for approximating the axial power distribution of a PWR
is to represent it (a) at the beginning of core life (BOL) by a cosine curve with its
coinciding with the mid-height of core, and (b) beyond the middle of core life
double-peaked shape with one peak each in the upper and lower core halves.
positions of the two peaks should not vary
appreciably with eventual distortion of the
First Cycle,
9, 000 t1WD/T, Kat
axial power distribution by xenon oscillation
Full Power, All
at any given burnup if a constant control
ROds Out
;::;
rod position is assumed. Under this assump0:::
tion, the heights of the two peaks vary
:I. 5
linearly with axial offset, which is defined
..c:
by
"'
A. 0.=
where
Qr-+Qs X
Qr Qs
qr:
q8
100 (%),
core
peak
by a
The
(1)
Integral power of
upper core half
Integral power of
lower core half.
"'>
0
Axial offset
+50
(%l
451
derived from two independent power distribution curves, one having its peak located
in the upper core half, and the other conversely in the lower core half, as shown in
Fig. 2.
1.5r---------------------------------------------,
0::
:
X
0
...,
0
L..
QJ
8. 0.5
QJ
>
...,
0
&
1.0
<Top)
(Zl)
0.8
0.5
0.2
0.0
(Bat tam)
( 2)
( 3)
As(Z)=Fz2e<Z-Zzlbz cos[2rr(Z- Z 2 )a 3]
( 4)
( 5)
(6)
Z,,
Zz:
Fz,, Fz 2 : Relative heights of power peaks in lower and upper core halves, respectively
a, a4, b, bz, c,, C4: Coefficients described in what follows.
-25-
452
The values of Z, and Z 2 are calculated for different values of burnup by 1-D diffusion
code, assuming the conditions of hot full power, equilibrium xenon, all control rods out.
It is found that Z, and Z2 are not sensitive to changes in power level, their values being
much the same in different plants of similar design at the same burnup. For BOL, Z 1
and Z 2 are calculated based on xenon oscillation, using 1-D diffusion code.
The resulting data are normalized to
and from the forms defined in Eqs. ( 2 )rv( 5) for expressing the axial power distribution,
~O~
=KsFz,+K4Fz2
( 9)
Fz
1
(10)
(11)
K,+ Ks=
2e-b2CZ2-Z1)
K 2- K 4 =
ab
(14)
Then, C, and C4 are determined from the relative extrapolation distances at core bottom
and core top :
(15)
from which,
(16)
(17)
453
In practice, while a 1 and a4 can be determined from the above equations, these
coefficients are chosen empirically to reproduce realistic axial power distributions. For
example, in the case of a 3 loop PWR, the values adopted would be
(18)
-0.01
-0.005
(19)
0.01
h.= { 0.005
l.={ 1.0
(21)
after 5,000 MWD/T,
where again
HU: Burnup in MWD/T.
Thus, the axial power distributions with arbitrary axial offset can be calculated using
the predetermined constants ar, ao, f3r, (3., Z r, Z 2 Ar and A2.
The next step is to calculate the axial power distribution change during xenon
transient, and for this purpose the changes in the number densities of xenon and iodine
are expressed by
1
df(t~)=-A
I(t Z)+Y U(Z)
dt
I
'
I
f't'
(22)
(23)
where
l(t, Z), X(t, Z):
~I, J.x:
Y I, Y x:
l'JrfJ (Z) :
;r>(Z):
in above equations
I h I 12 : Core-averaged fast and thermal fission cross sections
t/Jr, 2: Core-averaged fast and thermal neutron fluxes
a:_
The procedure is to first calculate P(Z) by the proposed functional method, and then
the xenon distribution, using Eqs. (22) and (23). The xenon distribution thus obtained is
-27-
454
further utilized for determining the effective multiplication factors Kffr for the upper
core half, and K.fiB for the lower core half:
Keffr=---'(->--~~
""'a
1 '
""'R
+Dl
1
2
B"+--vr-(l!~ft+
~ a +~R~:~
~ra 2.Xe ) ,
""'a .Xe
2
(24)
(25)
where ~a,. ~R. l!~h l'a 2 and I!~Jz are the core-averaged macro cross sections in the 2group diffusion equation, expressed in the usual notations ; D, and D 2 the core-averaged
fast and thermal group diffusion coefficients; B 2 the transverse buckling; ~~ 1 .xe and ~~,.x.
the fast group xenon macro absorption cross sections for the top and bottom half cores.
The values of ~~ 1 .xe and ~~,.x. are calculated by the formulas
~~ 1 .x.=
~:. 5 X(t,
z)a{,P(Z)dZ
- - - -
(26)
[/(Z)dZ
~: X(t,
5
z)a{,P(Z)dZ
(27)
~:- P(Z)dZ
5
All macro cross sections are determined for a given burnup and for hot full power
Condition. The cross sections ~~ 2 .xe and ~~2 .xe relevant to the thermal group corresponding to ~~ 1 .xe and ~~,.x. for the fast group.
Now the difference in reactivity due to the xenon distribution between the upper and
lower core halves is calculated:
)x
Llpx=ln( KKffr
100.
(28)
fiB
30,------------.------------,
It is in proportion to this reactivity
difference that the change in axial offset
End of. Life
is assumed to be caused by the xenon
20
transient during a given time step. This
assumption is justified by calculations based
10
on the effective one-group diffusion equation for the case of limited reactivity dif.... 0
ference and uniform reactivity distribution:
...."'
(/)
....0
--10
0
where
x
"" -20
LlA. 0.:
-30
-4o~~~~--~~~~--~~~
-1.0
0
React! vi ty dl fference,
1,0
~fX (%)
Fig. 3 Variation in axial offset induced by reactivity difference caused between upper and
lower core halves due to xenon transient
-28-
455
time step is calculated by the functional calculation method. Reiteration of this procedure
yields the total change brought to the axial power distribution during whole xenon
transient. The coefficient, g 1 in Eq. (29) is determined for each burnup using the 1-D
diffusion calculations, with the reactivity difference given individually for each step. The
relation between A. 0. and Llpx is shown in Fig. 3 for the representative cases of
beginning and end of life.
The axial power distributions under various core conditions including xenon transients
are thus calculated with this method based solely on axial offset data.
ill.
We calculate the axial power distributions of a typical 3-loop PWR core under various
core conditions using the present functional method, and compare the results with those
obtained from 1-D diffusion code calculaTable 1 Main core parameters
tions. The principal parameters of the
of PWR plant studied
PWR plant taken up for this study are as
2,432 MWt
Core thermal power
presented in Table 1. The axial power
304cm
Core equivalent diameter
distributions of this core under various
366 em
Core height
conditions are calculated with the 1-D
157
Number of assemblies
diffusion TWINKLE codeC'J, which is also
Assembly lattice
15 x 15 fuel lattice
arrangement
used for deriving the input data (Z 1 , Z 2 , a1o
91.6W/cc
Power density
ao, f31o f3o, ~~. ~z) for the functional calcula158 kg/cm 2 a
Coolant pressure
tion. Then the axial power distributions
288.6c
Inlet temperature
are calculated with the functional method
306.4 c
Average temperature
using the input data shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Parameters used in present method for deriving axial power distribution
Parameters
Burnup (MWD/T)
Power level(%)
Bank D insertion(%)
Axial offset(%)
Z1
Zz
a1
ao
PI
,Bo
.ll
Az
al
a,
bl
bz
cl
c,
Case 1
(Fig. 4(a))
O(CYl)
100
0
-13.6
0.30
0.65
-1.333
1.230
1.250
1.295
0.025
0.025
0.686
0.414
1.596
1.010
0.525
1.499
Case 2
(Fig. 4(b))
9,000(CY1)
100
0
-0.6
0.15
0.80
-1.717
1.135
1.433
1.150
0.060
0.060
1.003
0.997
1.739
1.129
1.328
-0.171
-29-
Case 3
(Fig. 4(c))
O(CYl)
100
33.3
-21.9
0.30
0.65
-1.333
1.230
1. 250
1.295
0.025
0.025
0.669
0.231
1.536
0.354
0.630
2.283
Case 4
(Fig. 4(d))
O(Eq. CY)
50
0
16.4
0.20
0.80
-1.417
1.085
1. 583
1.055
0.050
0.050
0.918
1.082
0.469
1.394
0.566
-0.491
456
The results of calculation are shown in Fig. 4(a)"-'(d), together with the corresponding
data obtained with the 1-D diffusion calculations. The curves representing the axial
power distribution at the first cycle are, in Fig. 4(a) for BOL, hot full power, equilibrium
condition, in Fig. 4(b) for 9,000 MWD/T, hot full power, equilibrium condition, and in Fig.
4(c) for BOL, hot full power, bank D 33.3% inserted condition, while Fig. 4(d) shows the
curves for the equilibrium cycle, BOL, 50% power, equilibrium condition.
N
c
0
:;::; 1.0
"'D.
0
'-'
0
'Q)
~
D.
- - This method
0. 5
Q)
>
0.5
Relative core height
1.0
(Top)
0
(Bottom)
Fig. 4(a) First cycle at BOL, in hot full power, all rods out
1.5.--------------------------------------------,
First Cycle, 9, 000 MHD/T
Hot Full Power, All Rods Out
A.O. ~ -0,6%
;::;
c..
-~ 1.0
This method
1-D diffusion code
1.0
(Top)
0.5
Relative core height
0
(Bottom)
Fig. 4 (b) First cycle at 9,000 MWD/T, in hot full power, all rods out
Fig. 4(a)-(d) Comparison of power distributions obtained
by present method and by 1-D diffusion code
-30-
457
1.5
;:::;
c..
N
c
.s
~
~ 1.0
c...
.s
X
...,
0
L
This method
"'
-~ 0.5
~
&
1.0
<Top)
0
(Bottom)
0.5
Relative core height
Fig. 4(c) First cycle at BOL, in hot full power, bank D 33.3% inserted
1.5r----------------------------------------------,
BOL of Equillbrium Cycle
50 % Power Level, All
Rods out
A.0.=16.4%
c..
N
c
~ 1.0
<n
0
0.
-~
X
a
~
This method
"'"'g 0.5
<!J
_;:;
.....
a
"""'
1.0
<Top)
0.5
Relative core height
0
(Bottoml
Fig. 4 (d) Equilibrium cycle at BOL, in 50% power level, all rods out
458
the results of 1-D diffusion calculation. Thus establishing the capability of this simple
method to predict axial power distributions during the xenon transients such as xenon
oscillation, with ample precision for all practical purposes.
30
20
B
.....
"'
.....
.....
10
<I)
-x
0
Eauillbr!um_A...:_o_._ _
<t
-10
- - This method
- - - - 1-D diffusion code
-20
-30
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Time ChrJ
IV.
DISCUSSION
The results of calculation presented in the preceding chapter (Figs. 4 (a)"' (d)) reveal
that the present method provides peak power that deviate from those obtained with 1-D
diffusion code by hardly more than 2%. This can be considered to prove that the method
is amply capable of ensuring practically acceptable precision in estimating the power
distributions at various values of burnup, control rod insertion and power level.
Similarly good agreement has been seen in Fig. 5 for representing the response
shown by the axial offset to xenon oscillation, thus establishing the adequacy of the new
method also for determining the dynamic behavior of axial power distribution during
xenon transients.
The primary merit of the present method lies in its simplicity, which permits
economizing computer time to almost 1/50 of that required for 1-D diffusion calculations;
also, a smaller computer will suffice for performing the calculation. This advantage of
the method suits it ideally to plant-side calculations of axial power distribution. The
method will also serve conveniently for analytical treatment of the axial power
distribution, which often constitutes an important factor in DNBR evaluations and other
elements of accident analyses, as well as in transient analyses such as on load-follow
characteristics. A drawback of the method is the relatively large error that it involves
when used for calculating skewed double-humped axial power distribution, such as produced
in the presence of a strong absorber (e.g. segment of control rod) in mid-height of core.
The error should also be magnified when the axial offset becomes considerable, such as to
appreciably deviate from the linear relation between Fz and A. 0., as represented in Fig. 1.
Situations such as envisaged above, however, will not occur in normal PWR operation, so
-32-
459
that these shortcomings-which could, furthermore, be overcome by input data refinementshould not detract in any way from the practical applicability of the method to axial
power distribution analyses.
V.
CONCLUSIONS
A simple functional method has been presented, which permits derivation of the PWR
axial power distribution solely from information on axial offset, acquirable continually
with ex-core neutron monitors. The method possesses the merits of:
Providing amply precise axial power distributions under arbitrary core conditions.
(2) Reducing the computer time to almost 1/50 of that required for 1-D diffusion
calculations, which should permit practical application to plant-side power distribution
determination, with possible development eventually to provide real-time power distribution monitoring and DNBR monitoring systems.
(3) Convenient utilization for analytical treatment of the axial power distributions
required for accident and reactor transient analyses.
(1)
Other applications should be found for the method upon extending its use.
(Text edited grammatically by Mr. M. Yoshida.)
---REFERENCES--(!)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
-33-