Condensation Induced Water Hammer can occur in a variety of technical applications. Wherever subcooled water is brought into contact with hot steam via a sufficiently large exchange surface, there is a risk of abrupt condensation. This occurs, for example, in the chemical industry or in the emergency cooling of a nuclear reactor, where cooling water is fed into the pipes of a steam-conducting system. Under certain operating conditions, the two-phase flow of water and water vapour that is generated takes on flow forms that promote condensation. The stochastically occurring condensation shocks show a multiple of the operating pressure of the system, which can result in the bursting of pipelines or system components.
In order to design endangered plant sections in such a way that they can withstand the pressure impulse, simulation programs are increasingly used in plant design. Current calculation programs, however, describe the occurrence and severity of condensation shocks only inadequately, as there is insufficient detailed knowledge of the thermohydraulic flow processes during the pressure impulse. In nuclear technology in particular, there is a need for research and development in the calculation and computer-aided simulation of safety-relevant scenarios with transient, thermohydraulic flow processes in pipelines. New, experimental and analytical analyses show that there is a necessity to check existing models to see whether they provide adequate results and, if this is not the case, to improve and validate the models appropriately.
