- Author
- Laborde, J. C. | Lopez, M. C. | Pourprix, M. | Savornin, J. | Teissier, J.
- Title
- Impacts of the Filter Clogging on the Behavior of a Ventilation Network in the Event of Fire.
- Coporate
- CEA Centre d"Etudes Nucleaires de Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
- Report
- CEA-DAS-771, December 1990, 16 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Book or Conf
- Department of Energy/Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Nuclear Air Cleaning Conference, 21st. April 13-16, 1990, San Diego, CA, 1990
- Keywords
- filters | ventilation | nuclear power plants | containment | tests | nuclear reactor fires | flow resistance
- Abstract
- One of the main roles of ventilation in a nuclear plant is to maintain dynamic containment during normal or accidental operating conditions. Among the incidents likely to affect a nuclear installation, fire is one of those which, coming from the safety standpoint, requires the greatest attention because it is one of the most probable risks. The consequences of a fire have to be analysed not only in the room where it breaks out, but also for the entire ventilation network. To evaluate these consequences and develop strategies against fire, the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA) uses several test rigs and calculation codes by which the impact of a fire upon the sensitive points of a network can be determined. Research and development studies currently under way give priority to the clogging of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters. Beginning with polymer fires in a 85 m3 ventilated room, the influence of filter clogging on the characteristic parameters of the associated ventilated network (pressure in room, extraction flow, ...) is highlighted. The resultant modelling study following these experiments reveals that coupling of a ventilation code with a fire code cannot be disassociated from the development of a filter clogging model. This paper also gives the first experimental results relative to the determination of the variation, according to time and mass of deposited aerosols, of the air flow resistance of a filter clogged by aerosols derived from combustion of standard polymers used in the nuclear industry (methyl acrylate polymer, polyvinyl chloride). A methodology to extend the results obtained on our clogging test rig to any ventilation network is then described.