Full-Scale Measurements of Smoke Transport and Deposition in Ventilation System Ductwork (NUREG/CR-4321,LA-10478-MS)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: June 1985
Date Published: July 1985

Prepared by:
R.A. Martin
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545

D.L. Fenton
Mechanical Engineering Department
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003

Prepared for:
Division of Risk Analysis
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

NRC FIN A-7029

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Abstract

This study is part of an effort to obtain experimental data in support of the fire accident analysis computer code FIRAC, which was developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. FIRAC can predict the transient movement of aerosolized or gaseous material throughout the complex ventilation systems-of-nuclear fuel cycle facilities. We conducted a preliminary set of full-scale material depletion/modification experiments to help assess the accuracy of the code's aerosol depletion model. Such tests were performed under realistic conditions using real combustion products in full-sized ducts at typical airflow rates. To produce a combustion aerosol, we burned both polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate, the most and least smoky fuels typically found in fuel cycle plants, under varied ventilation (oxygen-lean and oxygen-rich) conditions.

Aerosol mass deposition, size,and concentration measurements were performed. We found that as much as ~25% of polystyrene smoke mass and as little as 2% of the polymethyl methacrylate generated at the entrance to a 15.2-m duct is deposited on the duct walls. We also compared our experimental results with theoretical equations currently used in FIRAC.