Application of Fractional Scaling Analysis to Loss of Coolant Accidents, System Level Scaling for System Depressurization

Fractional scaling analysis (FSA) is demonstrated at the system level. The selected example is depressurization of nuclear reactor primary systems undergoing large- and small-break loss of coolant accidents (LOCA), specifically in two integral test facilities of different sizes and shapes, namely, LOFT and Semiscale. The paper demonstrates (1) the relation between pressure and volume displacement rates in analogy to generalized “effort” and “flow” in interdisciplinary analysis of complex systems and (2) using experimental data that a properly scaled depressurization history applies to both large- and small-break LOCA in two different facilities. FSA, when applied at the system, component, and process levels, serves to synthesize the worldwide wealth of results from analyses and experiments into compact form for efficient storage, transfer, and retrieval of information. The demonstration at the system level shows that during LOCAs the break flow dominates for break sizes between 0.1% and 200% of cold-leg flow cross-sectional area, and that FSA ranks processes quantitatively and thereby objectively in the order of their importance. FSA supersedes the hereunto subjectively implemented phenomena identification and ranking table. FSA readily quantifies scale distortions. FSA reduces significantly the need for and current cost of experiments and analyses.