Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Transient simulation and experiment validation on the opening and closing process of a ball valve

  • Han, Yong (National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University) ;
  • Zhou, Ling (National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University) ;
  • Bai, Ling (National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University) ;
  • Xue, Peng (Henan Province Solid Waste and Chemical Technology Management Center) ;
  • Lv, Wanning (National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University) ;
  • Shi, Weidong (School of Mechanical Engineering, Nantong University) ;
  • Huang, Gaoyang (Jiangsu Shentong Valve Co. Ltd.)
  • Received : 2021.08.17
  • Accepted : 2021.10.23
  • Published : 2022.05.25
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Abstract

The ball valve is an important device in the pipeline transportation system of nuclear power plants. Its operational stability and safety directly affect the normal working of nuclear power plants. In this study, the transient numerical simulation of the opening and closing process of a ball valve was conducted on the basis of the flow interruption capability experiment of the ball valve by using the moving mesh method and inlet and outlet variable boundary conditions. The flow rate and pressure difference with time of the opening and closing process of the ball valve were studied. The internal flow characteristics of the ball valve under different relative openings were analyzed in conjunction with the typical back-step flow structure. Results show that the transient numerical results agree well with the experimental results. The internal flow characteristics of the ball valve are similar at the same opening during opening and closing process. At small opening, the spool and outlet channels easily form a back-step flow structure. The disappearance and generation of backflow vortices during opening and closing occur at 85% opening and 75% opening, respectively. With the decrease in opening degree, the difference in vortex core area in the flow channel of the ball valve spool in the opening and closing process gradually appears. The research results provide some reference value for the design and optimization of ball valves.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Project (Grant No. 2020YFC1512404), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52079058, 51979138), Nature Science Foundation for Excellent Young Scholars of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20190101), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2020M681520), and Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds (Grant No. 2020Z031).

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