Attentuation effect of sprinklers on a superheated environment using COMPACT

As a result of a high-energy line break (HELB) in the auxiliary building of a pressurized water reactor, superheated steam is released through a 15.2-cm (6-in.) break in the main stream line. A sophisticated analytical tool is needed to simulate the effects of natural circulation airflow in the building. The COMPACT computer code was used for this study not only because of its ability to model natural circulation airflow but also because it is a recognized and approved tool for outside containment steam-line break applications. Two cases were analyzed in this study. The first case did not model the Appendix R fire protection sprinklers in the break node, while the second case did. Previous conservative analyses have shown that four sprinklers would be available, each providing a flow rate of ∼15 gal/min. A fusible link must fail in order to actuate the sprinklers, and conservative calculations show that the failure time would be 113 s from event initiation. Since the sprinkler headers are already full of water, there is no additional delay time for sprinkler flow to the break compartment