Design Improvement for Cavitation Induced Erosion at Flow Control Valve in the Nuclear Service Cooling Water System

The function of nuclear service cooling water (NSCW) System is for supplying cooling water (seawater) to the Component Cooling Water Heat Exchangers, Essential Chillers and Emergency Diesel Generator Chillers. In the NSCW system, the flow control valve (FCV) is installed to prevent an overflow of the system. As metal loss damage (erosion) inside the FCV due to the cavitation and sea water corrosion occurred frequently, the material of valve disc was changed from AL-Bronze to Monel in 1996. After changing the material, the erosion by sea water corrosion was clearly improved. But the erosion induced by cavitation is still observed. Therefore, this study investigates the metal loss damage mechanisms in the FCV of NSCW system and proposes the design modification to mitigate the metal loss damage in the valve