Characteristics of DC electrical braking method of the gas circulator to limit the temperature rise at the heat transfer pipes in the HTTR

In the safety evaluation of a High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR), it must be confirmed that the core has no chance to be damaged and the barrier against the FP release is designed properly not to be affecting the influence of radiation around the reactor site. Especially the maximum temperature of the reactor pressure boundary such as the heat transfer pipes of pressurized water cooler (PWC) must not exceed the permissible values under an anticipated accident such as pipe of rupture in PWC. A requirement for the gas circulator which circulates helium gas in the primary cooling line and the secondary cooling line, is to be braked within 10 seconds by an electrical braking method after the HTTR reactor has scrammed under the accident in PWC. The reason is that the temperature rise of the heat transfer pipe at PWC has to be suppressed when the gas circulator has stopped, the revolution of the gas circulator decreases like the free coast down so that it takes about 90 seconds to be zero and the temperature rise of the pipe in the PWC exceeds the permissible value. By braking within 10 secs., the temperature of the pipe in the PWC reaches about 368 deg. C, less than the permissible value. Using a simplified equivalent circuit of an induction motor, braking time analysis was performed with obtained electrical resistance and inductance. The obtained braking time is about 10 secs., showing close agreement with analysis values. (author)