Model steam generator

An improved model steam generator for simulating the conditions inside a nuclear steam generator in order to monitor the conditions of the heat exchange tubes and tubesheet contained within the nuclear steam generator, comprising a boiler vessel having a feedwater inlet for introducing feedwater to the interior of the vessel, at least one sample heat exchange tube for converting the feedwater into a flow of steam, a steam outlet for conducting the flow of steam out of the vessel, a separator assembly for separating water droplets entrained within the steam flowing out of the outlet, including a plurality of separator grids for capturing the entrained water droplets and draining the droplets back into the boiler vessel, and a condenser assembly having first and second sets of condenser windings for converting the flow of steam produced by the boiler vessel into liquid condensate, wherein the condenser assembly includes a means for selectively fluidly disconnecting one of the sets of condenser windings in order to increase the turn-down ratio of the model steam generator.

An improved model steam generator for simulating the conditions inside a nuclear steam generator in order to monitor the conditions of the heat exchange tubes and tubesheet contained within the nuclear generator, comprising a boiler vessel having a feedwater inlet for introducing feedwater to the interior of the vessel, at least one sample heat exchange tube for converting the feedwater into a flow of steam, a blow-down means for blowing down the vessel interior, a steam outlet for conducting the flow of steam out of the vessel, and a separator assembly for separating water droplets entrained within the steam flowing out of the outlet, including a plurality of separator grids, each of which is formed from a parallel array of semi-cylindrical deflector members having their concave sides facing the flow of steam, a condenser assembly having first and second sets of condenser windings for converting the flow of steam into a liquid condensate, and further including a means for selectively fluidly disconnecting one of the sets of condenser windings in order to increase the turn-down ratio of the steam generator, and a pre-heater for heating the feedwater to a selected temperature before introducing the feedwater into the boiler vessel in order to simulate the conditions around a selected region of the tubesheet of the nuclear steam generator.

An improved model steam generator for simulating the conditions inside a full-scale steam generator in order to monitor the conditions of the heat exchange tubes and tubesheet contained within the full-scale generator, comprising a boiler vessel having a feedwater inlet for introducing feedwater to the interior of the vessel, at least one sample heat exchange tube for converting the feedwater into a flow of steam, a steam outlet for conducting the flow of steam out of the vessel, and a separator assembly for separating water droplets entrained within the steam flowing out of the outlet including a plurality of separator grids, each of which is formed from an array of deflector members, and a condenser assembly having first and second sets of condenser windings for converting the flow of steam into a liquid condensate, wherein the condenser assembly includes a means for selectively fluidly disconnecting one of the sets of condenser windings in order to increase the turn-down ratio of the model steam generator.

An improved model steam generator for simulating the conditions inside a full-scale steam generator in order to monitor the conditions of the heat exchange tubes and tubesheet contained within the full-scale generator, comprising a boiler vessel having a feedwater inlet for introducing feedwater to the interior of the vessel, at least one sample heat exchange tube for converting the feedwater into a flow of steam, a steam outlet for conducting the flow of steam out of the vessel, and a means for separating water droplets entrained within the steam flowing out of the outlet to an extent at least as great as the amount of droplet separation achieved within the fullscale generator being monitored so that the model steam generator can be operated in a predictive mode, wherein said separating means consists solely of a separator assembly having a plurality of separator grids, each of which is formed from an array of deflector members.

An improved model steam generator for simulating the conditions inside a full-scale steam generator in order to monitor the conditions of the heat exchange tubes and tubesheet contained within the full-scale generator, comprising a boiler vessel having a feedwater inlet for introducing feedwater to the interior of the vessel, at least one heat exchange tube for converting the feedwater into a flow of steam, a steam outlet for conducting the flow of steam out of the vessel, and a condenser assembly having first and second sets of condenser windings for converting the flow of steam into a liquid condensate, wherein the condenser assembly includes a means for selectively fluidly disconnecting one of the sets of condenser windings in order to increase the turn-down ratio of the model steam generator.