Operational Limits for Gas Turbine Compressors During Transient Conditions in a Helium Cooled Reactor

The use of gas turbines in Gas Cooled Fast Reactors requires an accurate analysis of the loss of pressure accident induced by the rupture of a main helium pipe. In this paper a multiloop design is considered. The loop in which the pipe rupture occurs is assumed to be out of operation. The results presented show under which conditions the turbogroups of the nondamaged loops are capable to maintain forced convection, thus ensuring the after heat removal even if a very small quantity of coolant gas is left in the reactor system. In particular the influence of the flow restrictors at the reactor inlet and outlet, the total helium mass, the final containment pressure, the pony motors and the scram delay on the proper functioning of the helium compressors is investigated.