Method to analyze economics of asset management solutions for nuclear steam generators

A method of maintaining a steam generator, the method comprising:

• obtaining historic and/or current data for at least one of a steam generator deposit porosity, ε, steam channel tortuosity, τ, deposit thermal resistance, K, deposit copper content, Cu, and deposit thickness, δ, for a steam generator or a steam generator of the same design;
• on a computer, calculating a B-base fouling factor, B, from the historic and/or current data and at least one of:
• ɛ
• =
• ɛ
• 0
• 
• 
• [
• -
• t
• B
• ]
• ,
• 
• τ
• =
• 1
• +
• τ
• 0
• 
• [
• 1
• -
• 
• [
• -
• t
• B
• ]
• ]
• ,
• 
• K
• =
• K
• o
• 
• [
• 1
• -
• 
• (
• -
• t
• B
• )
• ]
• ,
• 
• Cu
• =
• Cu
• o
• 
• 
• [
• -
• t
• B
• ]
• ,
• and
• δ
• =
• M
• i
• (
• 1
• -
• ɛ
• )
• 
• (
• SD
• )
• 
• (
• A
• T
• )
• ,
• wherein
• Mi is the deposit inventory mass, SD is the deposit solid density, AT is a tube bundle outside diameter surface area affected by deposition, t is the number of days since startup of the reactor or since the occurrence of a significant operational or maintenance event of the steam generator, B is a time constant describing parameter evolution, ε0 is the maximum possible porosity, τ0 is the maximum possible tortuosity, K0 is the maximum possible resistance, Cu0 is the maximum possible copper content, and ε0, τ0, K0, and Cu0 are determined from available deposit data or design data for the steam generator;
• on a computer, calculating the future evolution in time of at least one of the deposit porosity, steam channel tortuosity, deposit thermal resistance, deposit copper content, and deposit thickness using the calculated B-base fouling factor;
• determining remaining licensing life of the generator and/or generator changes from maintenance outages/modifications that affect corrosion susceptibility;
• determining available maintenance alternatives for the steam generator for remediation of the evolution in time of at least one of the deposit porosity, steam channel tortuosity, deposit thermal resistance, deposit copper content, and deposit thickness;
• determining the maintenance alternative having the lowest economic cost, based upon at least one of the net present worth, internal rate of return, and a payback period, and, optionally, is further based upon the cost of replacement power;
• and
• performing at least one of the maintenance alternatives on the steam generator.