Nuclear Engineering and Design 341 (2019) 360–367

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Nuclear Engineering and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nucengdes

Numerical simulation of injection characteristics, hydrodynamics and T

absorption of iodine vapour in a venturi scrubber operating in self-priming
mode
⁎
Paridhi Goela,b, , Avinash Moharanab, Arun K. Nayaka,b
a
Homi Bhabha National Institute, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai 400094, Maharashtra, India
b
Reactor Engineering Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, Maharashtra, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Post Fukushima, many utilities are planning to install the Filtered Containment Venting System (FCVS) to protect
Reactor containment the nuclear reactor containment under severe accident scenarios. FCVS aims at depressurizing the reactor
FCVS containment and filtering the radioactive gas leaving the containment boundary under such scenarios. A key
Venturi scrubber component of FCVS is the venturi scrubber. The hydrodynamics of the fluid flow inside the FCVS is complex
Eulerian-Lagrangian
involving multi-phase and multi-component systems with droplets formed by entrainment of high velocity gas
Iodine absorption
stream with liquid jet. The size of droplets and their trajectories are critical with regard to decontamination of
iodine which combines with the droplets inside the venturi. Thus, understanding the injection characteristics,
hydrodynamics and absorption of iodine vapour with the droplets in the venturi scrubber is very important.
There are very limited studies on this aspect. In view of this, a CFD simulation study has been performed in this
work for understanding of venturi scrubber operation and performance in self-priming mode. The interaction of
the continuous gas phase and droplets is assumed to occur through drag force. The gas flow rate is varied from
1700 to 3400 lpm for two submergence heights of 3 m and 4 m. The liquid loading is estimated from pressure
drop at the nozzles observed in the experiments. The retention of iodine in venturi scrubber is calculated as-
suming instantaneous mass transfer at gas droplet interface. The mass transfer coefficient is evaluated from
Steinberg and Treybal correlation. Our results indicate that the liquid loading to the scrubber increases at lower
flow rates of 1700 lpm gas flow and further decreases with the increase in gas flow. The two phase pressure
profile predicted is close to measured values for each case. The pressure decreases in the converging section;
decreases sharply in the throat section due to liquid injection as droplets and shows negligible recovery in the
diverging section of the venturi scrubber. The retention of iodine in the venturi scrubber increases with the
increase in gas flow rate in the venturi scrubber. This indicates that the participation of venturi scrubber in the
iodine retention increases as the air flow rate increases.

1. Introduction
Nuclear energy has been viewed as one of the most promising
sources of green energy. However, the nuclear industry has witnessed
three major accidents in the past (i.e. TMI, Chernobyl and Fukushima)
due to which the safety of nuclear reactors became a concern.
Assessment of radioactivity release in these accidents suggests that the
containment integrity during accident progression plays a key role in
arresting the radioactive gases within controlled zone. In TMI accident,
containment was full of fission products but only a limited amount of
radioactive iodine escaped to the environment along with some noble
gases. However, in Chernobyl, highly radioactive plume was emitted
and travelled in large area of Europe; mainly because of loss of con-
tainment (which was lost during the accident). Post Fukushima event
analysis reported high concentrations of iodine in the soil and water
samples nearly 4000 times the permissible limits (Bal Raj Sehgal,
2012). Iodine gets stored in thyroid in humans and hence its retention is
of immediate concern after a nuclear accident.
Nuclear reactors are therefore, provided with leak-tight contain-
ment buildings as a preventive measure; which encompasses radio-
active molten core at high temperature and high pressure in accidental
condition (Thompson and Beckerley, 1970). Under such beyond design
basis event, the pressure of the containment may exceed the design
limit and threaten the containment building. This paved the way for the

⁎
Corresponding author at: Reactor Engineering Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400085, Maharashtra, India.
E-mail addresses: paridhi.hbtibe@gmail.com, pgoel@barc.gov.in (P. Goel).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2018.11.020
Received 6 June 2018; Received in revised form 8 October 2018; Accepted 20 November 2018
0029-5493/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
P. Goel et al.
Nomenclature
CD drag coefficient of drop (dimensionless)
CDsph spherical drag coefficient of drop (dimensionless)
dp droplet diameter (m)
r radius of droplet (m)
kg mass transfer coefficient
Sc Schimdt number
Dg diffusivity of gas (m2/s)
vl velocity of liquid at the nozzles (m/s)
ugin velocity of air at the venturi inlet (m/s)
Reg Reynolds number for air (dimensionless)
ddef droplet deformed diameter (m)
K loss coefficient
ud velocity of droplet (m/s)
design and installation of passive safety measures in nuclear reactors
which can ensure the integrity of the containment under such events.
To prevent the containment pressurisation during accidental con-
ditions, Filtered Containment Venting System (FCVS) has been en-
visaged; which aims at depressurizing the containment and thus limit
the radioactive release to the atmosphere (OECD/NEA/CSNI, 2014).
Various designs of FCVS have been suggested in literature. They are
basically categorized on the basis of the filtration technology. The ones
which use water for first filtration stage are referred as wet system.
Other designs equip sand gravel bed as filtration unit. Both of these are
provided with other stages like metal fibre filter or demister to remove
finer aerosols released from the containment (OECD/NEA/CSNI, 2014).
Lindau (1988) discussed the applicability of such a wet scrubbing unit
i.e. venturi scrubbers conventionally used in process industries for
pollution control in nuclear reactors for mitigating nuclear accidents
consequences. Conventional process industry venturi scrubber is oper-
ated in forced feed mode where liquid is pumped in the throat section
but in nuclear industry the liquid flow rate is done passively. A typical
design of FCVS is a manifold of venturi scrubbers and metal fiber filter
enclosed in a tank loaded with aqueous solution and chemical reagents.
The addition of chemical reagents is done to enhance the solubility of
fission products in the pool solution; for example, iodine is highly so-
luble in alkaline solution so the tank is added with sodium hydroxide
and sodium thiosulphate solution. The venturi scrubber plays a key role
in determining the efficiency of the FCVS. The geometry of venturi
scrubber consists of three different geometrical cross-sections i.e. con-
verging, throat and diverging section. The throat section of the venturi
scrubber has nozzles to inject the jet of liquid from the pool. The con-
taminated radioactive gases along with steam from the nuclear reactor
enter the venturi scrubber at the converging section where it drives out
the initially filled aqueous solution, swells the pool and is accelerated.
This further creates a region of low pressure in the throat section which
allows liquid entrainment from the liquid pool. Further in the throat
section of the venturi scrubber, the relative velocity between the en-
trained fluid and the high velocity gas shears the fluid, deforms it and
breaks it to fine droplets. The formation of droplets is determined by the
magnitude of shear experienced by the entrained liquid. The droplets
enhance the surface area for the interaction of contaminated air with
the entrained liquid. The size and distribution of droplets is critical in
determining the performance of the venturi scrubber for both aerosols
and vapour retention released during accidental scenario in nuclear
reactor. Finally, in the diverging section of the scrubber, both the en-
trained fluid and the gas decelerate. Thus, the hydrodynamics of ven-
turi scrubber is multi-physics and multi-fluid (Lindau, 1988). The per-
formance of venturi scrubber is therefore dependent on the amount of
liquid entrained and the inlet gas flow rate.
The self-priming mode of venturi scrubber was investigated ex-
perimentally by Lehner (1988). In this mode, the liquid was injected in
361
Nuclear Engineering and Design 341 (2019) 360–367
μg viscosity of gas (Pa s)
αd volume fraction
ρ density of air (kg/m3)
τ stress tensor (Pa)
P pressure (Pa)
S source term due to interaction
t time (s)
md mass of droplet (kg)
u velocity of air (m/s)
σ surface tension (N/m)
We Weber number
Re Reynolds number for droplet (dimensionless)
Nd number of drops in one parcel
dV volume of computational cell (m3)
the vertically upright venturi scrubber by an overhead tank connected
at the nozzles of the scrubber. When the scrubber is operated in self-
priming mode, the amount of liquid entrained is due to the radial
pressure difference at the nozzles in the throat section. The liquid
loading to the scrubber was measured and it was found that the liquid
loading to the scrubber is less than the pressure drop observed at the
throat section and is higher for low gas flow rates. This indicated that
there is an interfacial pressure resistance to the liquid flow. It was also
seen from visuals of the experiments that at high gas flow rates, the
liquid jet entrained in the scrubber is dragged to the near wall region of
the venturi scrubber. Horiguchi et al. (2013) observed the operation
characteristics in a self-priming venturi scrubber in a test facility similar
to Lehner (1988) and found that at high gas velocity, there is no suction
of liquid in the venturi scrubber. It was observed that the liquid flow
through the nozzles at the throat first increases and then decreases to
almost zero with increasing gas velocity.
Ali et al. (2013) measured iodine removal efficiency for submerged
and non-submerged venturi scrubber. It was observed that the sub-
mergence of venturi scrubber gives higher iodine removal efficiency.
The experimental data also showed that this increase in iodine removal
efficiency is 12% for 240 m3 h−1 of gas flow rate compared to marginal
increase of 4% at 340 m3 h−1 gas flow rate. This implies that the sub-
mergence doesn’t enhance the removal efficiency at high air flow rates
(after a certain flow rate). Zhou et al. (2016) focussed on experimental
and mathematical investigation of iodide absorption in a self-priming
venturi scrubber at different gas flow rates, liquid flow rates and iodide
concentration. It was concluded that the absorption efficiency increased
with increasing aqueous solution flow rate rapidly initially while it
remained stable at 99% at higher flow rates of aqueous solution. Hills
(1995) formulated the basic equations of mass transfer relevant to the
infinitely rapid reactions encountered in the venturi scrubber. They
further compared the model with the given literature data for sulphur
dioxide and carbon dioxide gas in alkaline solution absorption.
The evaluation of the performance of venturi scrubber thus requires
understanding of the liquid loading to the scrubber under submerged
operations relevant to nuclear reactor conditions which is not explicitly
quantified in literature. Therefore, experiments were conducted by Goel
et al. (2018) in a submerged venturi scrubber at prototypic conditions
of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor. The aim of the test facility was to
establish the retention of iodine vapour and understand the hydro-
dynamics of the venturi scrubber. This was accomplished using iodine
as radionuclide simulant carried by pressurized air in the venturi
scrubber. The alkaline solution filled in the scrubber tank was used as
absorbent. The air flow rate was varied from 1700 to 3400 lpm and the
iodine retained in the submerged facility was measured by ICP-OES
analysis of the sample collected from the scrubber tank at the end of
each experiment. The two phase pressure profile measured in the
venturi scrubber indicated probable flow distribution in the venturi
P. Goel et al. Nuclear Engineering and Design 341 (2019) 360–367

scrubber. It was found that the increase in air flow rate decreased the
radial pressure drop at the nozzles probably causing the decrease in
liquid loading to the scrubber. The iodine absorbed in the scrubber tank
increased rapidly with air flow rate up to 2200 lpm, after that the in-
crease is gradual with the maximum of 95% retention at 3400 lpm. 13 x 0.0025
An approach to numerically simulate the flow expected in the above

Ɏ 0.12
Ɏ0.05
Ɏ 0.12
experiments could be a system approach which would require the
computation of full experimental facility i.e. submerged venturi
scrubber enclosed in scrubber tank which would demand high com-
putational cost. In contrast to this, the present study focuses only on one
0.05 0.1 0.65 1.35 0.05
component of FCVS i.e. venturi scrubber. The model assumes Eulerian-
Lagrangian framework wherein air flow is continuous and is the carrier Fig. 1. Venturi scrubber dimensions (in m).
phase for iodine vapor. The liquid drawn in through the nozzles is es-
timated from the radial pressure drop observed at the nozzles during
Table 1
the experiments and is injected as droplets in the computational do- Summary of solver settings.
main. The droplets interaction with the continuous air flow is solved
and their trajectory and size distribution is calculated in the domain of Viscous model Turbulent k-epsilon RNG model with standard wall function
Particle time step 5e−04 s
the venturi scrubber. The gas phase mass transfer of iodine vapor to the Breakup model KHRT (Break up parameters: (B0-0.61, B1-17, Crt-0.3, Ctau-0.2,
droplets is calculated assuming instantaneous reaction at the surface of CL-5)
the droplets.
Boundary Conditions:
Region Type Specification
2. Model description
Venturi Inlet (air) Velocity Inlet 2.5–6.0 m/s (From experiment)
Outlet Pressure Outlet Gauge Pressure (From experiment)
2.1. Continuous gas flow
Nozzles Droplet Injection Liquid velocity; Droplet
diameter:2.5 mm
The gas flow is assumed to be compressible, turbulent and iso-
thermal. The density of the gas was calculated for each computational
cell considering it to be an ideal gas. The Reynolds-averaged Table 2
Navier–Stokes equation along with the RNG k–ε turbulence model is Details of cases.
solved to simulate the continuous airflow. The generalized momentum
Air Flow Radial pressure Guage Liquid Ql (m3s−1) Ql/Qg
equation for continuous phase solved in Eulerian frame and is given by rate difference (kPa) Pressure velocity (l/m3)
Eq. (1). (lpm) (kPa) (ms−1)

∂ Submergence height: 3 m
((1 − α d ) ρ u) + ∇ . ((1 − α d ) ρ uu) = −(1 − α d ) ∇P + ∇ . [(1 − α d ) τ ]
∂t 1700 10.46 18.89 26.43 0.00169 61.41
2200 13.36 15.91 13.36 0.00085 23.10
+ (1 − α d ) ρg + S (1)
3000 10.91 19.90 8.54 0.00054 10.77
3400 12.84 20.32 7.56 0.00048 8.50
1
αd =
dV
∑ Nd Vd (2) Submergence height: 4 m
1700 14.72 24.74 31.36 0.00200 69.45
The term αd in Eq. (1) (Eq. (2)) denotes the volume fraction of the 2200 12.89 26.96 13.12 0.00084 22.73
droplets i.e the ratio of the sum of the volume of droplets present in the 3000 12.75 27.19 9.23 0.00059 11.89
computational cell to the volume of the computational cell. 3400 11.01 30.26 7.00 0.00045 7.87

1 ρ (u − u d )2 ⎞ ⎛ π d ef 2 ⎞ ⎤
S=− ∑ Nd ⎡⎢CD ⎛
⎜ ⎟⎜ ⎟

sum of the mean continuous phase velocity and the fluctuating com-
dV ⎣ ⎝ 2 ⎠⎝ 4 ⎠⎥ ⎦ (3)
ponent due to the turbulence.
S in Eq. (1) (Eq. (3)) represents the source term or the coupling term
that accounts for the interaction between the continuous gas flow and du d ρ (u − u d)2 ⎞ ⎛ π d ef 2 ⎞
md = CD ⎛ ⎜ ⎟⎜ ⎟

droplet. In the present case, the interaction is only due to the drag dt ⎝ 2 ⎠⎝ 4 ⎠ (5)
forces acting on each droplet due to the relative velocity between the
Since the ratio of the density of continuous phase to the dispersed
two phases.
phase is of the order of 10−3, the effect of added mass and Basset
The momentum Eq. (1) is reduced to Eq. (4) in the case of low
history force is neglected in the present calculations.
volume fraction of dispersed phase (αd < 10%) which is relevant to
An empirical assessment of the deformation (ddef) in the droplet
venturi scrubber and is solved in the present case. However, in certain
sizewas proposed by Hsiang and Faeth (1992) given in Eq. (6).
computational cells, droplet volume fraction may exceed the limiting
value, in such cases Eq. (4) is modified to account for locally high vo- d ef 0.5
lume fractions in the venturi scrubber. = ⎧1 + 0.19We We ≤ 100 ⎫
dd ⎨
⎩ 2.9 We > 100 ⎬
⎭ (6)
∂ S
(ρ u) + ∇ . (ρ uu) = −∇P + ∇ . τ + ρg + ρg (u − u d)d d 2
∂t (1 − α d ) (4) We =
σd (7)

2.2. Motion and trajectory of droplets
The trajectory of the droplet is governed by drag force and therefore
the motion of droplets is solved by Eq. (5). The turbulent eddies in the
continuous phase affects the distribution of the dispersed droplets de-
pending on their size. Therefore, the term u in Eq. (5) represents the
The shear experienced due to the high speed air flow deforms the
droplet and elongates it in the direction of flow. Therefore, the droplet
drag is characterised in terms of Reynolds number and Weber number
to include both inertial and surface tension effects.
The deformation of the droplet increases the drag force due to
elongated projected area. The spherical drag model proposed by Clift

362
P. Goel et al. Nuclear Engineering and Design 341 (2019) 360–367

et al. (1978), Eq. (8) is therefore corrected to account for the shape
correction. The time-resolved shape correction suggested by Schmehl
et al. (2000) is added to the spherical drag model Eq. (9).

24 0.42 ρg (u − u d)d d
CD,sph = (1 + 0.16Red.687) + 4 −1.16
Red =
Red 4.2510 (Red ) μg
(8)

CD = CD,sph +We(0.2319 − 0.1579logRed + 0.047(logRed )2

− 0.0042(logRed )3 (9)
The high pressure gas stream deflects the entrained jet from the
nozzles in axial direction overcoming the inertia of the entrained jet.
The inertia of the jet therefore distinguishes the near injection regime
from the rest of the flow domain where the flow is dominated by the gas
stream. To account for the relaxation of the drag near the injection a
coefficient is introduced in the drag coefficient for few millimetres
downstream the injection location.

2.2.1. Droplet size

The initial size of the droplets is taken to be the size of the nozzle in
the venturi scrubber throat section. The surface instabilities formed due
to the high shear on the entrained liquid cause oscillations and its
amplitude grows on the surface of droplet. The resulting instability
causes detachment of small droplets from the edge of the entrained jet
(Wu et al., 1997). The remaining entrained jet continues to move under
the influence of drag forces in the domain. This behavior of break-up is
modeled in the present case by KHRT model. The model assumes a core
break up length where RT (Rayleigh-Taylor) instabilities are con-
sidered. Beyond that both KH (Kelvin- Helmholtz) and RT both compete
to give the size of the stripped droplets. The diameter of the stripped
droplets is decided by the fastest growing wave on the moving droplet.
Further details of the model can be found in Beale and Reitz (1999). The
collision of the droplets is also considered.

2.3. Absorption of iodine vapors

The removal of iodine from the venturi scrubber is modelled as-

suming that the reaction rate is kinetically fast and mass transfer of
iodine from gas in the droplet is gas film controlled (Eguchi et al.,
Fig. 2. Dependence of K on air Reynolds number.
1975). The reaction will take place at an interface between gas and
droplet. It is also assumed that the iodine is uniformly distributed ra-
dially and is moving with gas in the domain of the venturi scrubber.
Since the reaction rate is high and the venturi scrubbers are operated in
excess of reactant, concentration of iodine in the droplet is zero. The
concentration of iodine at the outlet is calculated from the following Eq.
(10).

Cout 4 ∗ 3.14 ∗ r ∗ r ∗ k g ∗ tres ⎞

= exp ⎛− ⎜ ⎟

Cin ⎝ V ⎠ (10)
where kg is mass transfer coefficient, r is the radius of droplet, V is the
volume of gas surrounding the droplet and tres is the contact time be-
tween the droplet and iodine vapor.
Steinberger and Treybal’s correlation of Sherwood number (ratio of
convection mass transfer rate to diffusive mass transfer rate) (1960)
(Eq. (11)) is used for gas-phase mass transfer coefficient for a single
droplet and is valid within the ranges of 1 < Re < 30,000 and
0.6 < Sc < 30,000 (Mariana et al., 2004).
Sh = 2 + 0.347(Red ∗ Sc .5)0.62 (11)

Fig. 3. Instantaneous distribution of droplet velocities and centreline air velo- Another mathematical formulation of Sherwood number is given by
city for 3000 lpm and 3 m submergence height. Eq. (12) where dd is the diameter of droplet and Dg is gas diffusivity.
k g ∗ dd
Sh =
Dg (12)
This Eq. (12) is equated to Eq. (11) to obtain gas phase mass transfer

363
P. Goel et al. Nuclear Engineering and Design 341 (2019) 360–367

Fig. 3b. Contours for gas velocity for single phase flow and two phase flow for 3400 lpm and 3 m submergence height.

3. Numerical considerations

The dimensions of venturi scrubber are shown in Fig. 1. Simulations

have been carried out with 3-D pressure based solver in second order
implicit steady formulation for continuous phase. The pressure velocity
coupling is done with SIMPLE algorithm. The tracking of droplets is
done in unsteady framework. The droplets are introduced at the nozzles
in the form of droplets. At each time step, the spatial location, size
distribution and trajectory of droplets is evaluated. The summary of
solver settings is given in Table 1.

4. Model validation

4.1. Evaluation of liquid loading

The liquid entrains in the venturi scrubber nozzles due to the dif-
ference in radial pressure and is opposed by the air flowing in the
venturi scrubber. Therefore, the liquid loading to the scrubber is de-
Fig. 4. Instantaneous distribution of droplet diameter for 3000 lpm and 3 m termined by the interplay of these two forces.
submergence height.
1 ρg u gin Din
Pth − Ptank = Kρ v l2; K = f(Reg ); Reg =
2 l μg (13)

This is different from normally encountered flow through orifices

Fig. 5. Instantaneous distribution of droplet diameter for 1700 lpm air velocity
and 3 m submergence height.
where the two fluids are same. Also the entraining liquid has to over-
come the resistance of the flowing gas inside the venturi scrubber.
Consequently, the loss coefficient at the nozzles of the venturi scrubber
cannot be considered constant. This physical understanding led to the
conclusion that the loss coefficient is a function of continuous gas flow
and is proportional to the pressure difference across the nozzles.
The value of K is then assumed to find the respective value of liquid
loading to the scrubber. After this the CFD model is solved to obtain the
pressure profile in the venturi scrubber. This process is repeated for all
the cases listed in Table 2. The final values of are plotted against the
Reynolds number of gas flow in Fig. 2. Table 2 summarises the input to
the CFD code. It can be seen from the Table 2 that the liquid entrain-
ment increases exponentially when the air inlet velocity is low. Physi-
cally, this implies that when the air inlet velocity is low the air flowing
in the venturi scrubber offers lower interfacial resistance causing large
volume of water to entrain. This suggests the key feature of submerged
operation of venturi scrubber wherein it adjusts the liquid loading in
accordance with the radial pressure and air inlet velocity.

coefficient and is substituted in Eq. (10) to evaluate Cout.
The single droplet absorption correlation is extrapolated to the
whole domain by dividing the venturi scrubber into sections of 0.05 m
axial length.
4.2. Droplets trajectory and size distribution
Detailed analysis of air flow profile and trajectory is done for the
case of 3000 lpm air flow rate where the liquid loading to the scrubber
is 10.76 l/m3. The droplet trajectories and its size evolution as shown in
Figs. 3 and 3b and 4 suggests that the droplets undergo sudden break-up
upon its entrance but further downstream some droplets coalesce to
form bigger droplets. It is also seen in the plot that the droplets leaving

364
P. Goel et al.
Fig. 6a. Pressure characteristics in the venturi scrubber for different air flow rates at submergence height of 3 m.
the venturi scrubber have higher momentum in comparison to the air
velocity. This suggests that momentum exchange with the droplets re-
duces the pressure drop recovery in the diverging section of the venturi
scrubber. Fig. 3b compares gas velocity contours for 3400 lpm air ve-
locity for single phase with two phase flow. It is seen that in presence of
droplets there is a marked increase in the magnitude of gas velocity due
to the momentum exchange.
The instantaneous distribution of droplet diameter for the 1700 lpm
flow rate has been shown in Fig. 5. Comparison of this with Fig. 4
suggest that the droplets formed are more in number and the extent to
which the droplets are accelerated in the domain is more for 3000 lpm.
The analysis show that the venturi scrubber in the operating conditions
has suctioned a high volume of water from the pool for lower air flow
rate. Also the droplet coalescence is more prominent in 1700 lpm case.
The high liquid loading to the scrubber at lower air inertia allows more
droplets to interact just at the nozzle entrance thus causing it to coa-
lesce and form bigger droplets as seen in Fig. 5.
4.3. Pressure profile in venturi scrubber
The two phase pressure characteristics observed in the venturi
scrubber is consequence of the flow of droplets and of air (Figs. 6a and
6b). The values in Figs. 6a and 6b show the gauge pressure values
measured in the experiments and their comparison with the predicted
values. In the converging section of the venturi scrubber, there is single
365
Nuclear Engineering and Design 341 (2019) 360–367
phase air which accelerates due to decrease in cross-sectional area for
flow. After that it enters the throat section where there is slight decrease
in pressure due to the friction. At the nozzles in the throat (at axial
location of 0.2 m), there is liquid entrainment which decreases the ef-
fective area for air flow and is also gaining momentum due to the re-
lative motion between the two phases. The high shear encountered by
the entrained droplets deflect it axially and deforms it in shape as well.
This results in pressure loss. On entering the diverging section, the air
and the droplets both decelerate but the high liquid loading in the
present cases restricts the recovery of pressure.
As seen in Figs. 6a and 6b, for the converging section (upto axial
location of 0.15 m) the pressure is decreasing with increasing flow from
the numerical values. But in the experiment, the pressure loss in the
converging section is of the order of 1 kPa for all the cases. One prob-
able reason may be that at low air flow rates the air may not have
driven the liquid column initially filled in the venturi scrubber and the
flow may not be single phase. This can be the likely reason because for
flow rate of 3000 lpm and above the measured and numerical values
predicted are close. In the throat section of the venturi scrubber, after
injection of droplets there is a loss of pressure. As can be observed for
all the cases the pressure loss continues till the end of throat section
upto axial location of 0.8 m but the change in pressure is sharp upto
axial location of 0.3 m after that the decrease is slow. This suggests that
the expected break up of droplets is mainly occurring upto 0.3 m after
that there is spatial dispersion. In the diverging section, the expected
P. Goel et al. Nuclear Engineering and Design 341 (2019) 360–367

Fig. 6b. Pressure characteristics in the venturi scrubber for different air flow rates at submergence height of 4 m.

Fig. 7. Percentage scrubbing of iodine vapors at submergence height of 3 m and Fig. 8. Percentage scrubbing of iodine vapors at submergence height of 4 m and
air flow rates varying from 1700 lpm to 3400 lpm. air flow rates varying from 1700 lpm to 3400 lpm.

366
P. Goel et al.
recovery of pressure is not observed because of the large volume of
liquid entrained.
4.4. Scrubbing of iodine vapor
The inlet concentration of iodine is assumed to be 1 ppm for all the
cases. Further, the scrubbing efficiency of the venturi scrubber was
computed assuming that the reaction is instantaneous at the interface of
the droplet and iodine vapor (Fig. 7 and Fig. 8). The scrubbing effi-
ciency was evaluated at flow rates varying from 1700 lpm to 3400 lpm
at the submergence height of 3 m (Fig. 7). It is found in the predicted
results that the contribution of venturi scrubber to the scrubbing of
iodine vapors increases with the increase in the air velocity. This is
probably due to the increased number of droplets at high air velocity.
This observation is similar to that reported in the experiments. The
scrubbing achieved is a combinatory effect of both the total surface area
available and the retention time. A higher throat length allowed for
redistribution of droplets and hence interaction time is provided which
inturn helped in increasing the iodine scrubbing.
Fig. 8 shows similar analysis for air flow rates of
1700 lpm–3400 lpm for 4 m submergence height. The experimental and
predicted efficiency both increases with increase in air flow rate for 4 m
submergence height also. Thus, at higher flow rates the increased
number of droplets allow maximum retention of iodine despite the
decrease in contact time.
5. Conclusions
The containment building of the nuclear reactor serves as the last
barrier to prevent the release of radioactive fission products to the
environment in accidental scenarios. In such scenarios, the containment
pressure may increase and this can further lead to exposure of radio-
active material and fission products to the environment. To maintain
the integrity of the containment building under such events, the design
and installation of FCVS is suggested.
The present study is dedicated to numerically simulate 3-D hydro-
dynamics in the venturi scrubber operated in self priming mode
through an Eulerian-Lagrangian framework. The model accounted for
the relative motion of the droplet and air phase. The retention of iodine
is calculated from the gas droplet mass transfer coefficient given by
Steinberg and Treybal. The model is validated with the experiments
conducted on a submerged venturi scrubber operation and can be em-
ployed to assess the performance of venturi scrubber under flow con-
ditions expected in FCVS during accidental situations. The key findings
from the present study are:
• The liquid loading to the scrubber is evaluated from the radial
pressure drop at the nozzles in the throat section. The interfacial loss
coefficient is found to follow power law correlation with Reynolds
number of air at the inlet.
• The interfacial loss is increasing with increasing air flow rate. The
liquid loading is hence decreasing with increasing air flow rate.
• The model was found to successfully predict the two phase pressure
367
Nuclear Engineering and Design 341 (2019) 360–367
characteristics in the venturi scrubber. The air phase accelerates in
the converging section due to which the pressure decreases. At the
nozzles location (0.2 m) there is a sharp pressure drop due to the
entrainment of liquid. The two phase pressure plot in the venturi
scrubber showed no recovery in the diverging section.
• The iodine retention efficiency in the venturi scrubber was found to
increase with increase in air flow rate despite the decrease in liquid
loading to the scrubber. This is due to the enhanced number of
droplets which increase interfacial area for mass transfer of iodine
vapors to droplets.
References
Ali, M., Changqi, Y., Zhongning, S., Haifeng, G., Junlong, W., Mehboob, K., 2013. Iodine
removal efficiency in non-submerged and submerged self-priming venturi scrubber.
Nucl. Eng. Technol. 45, 203–210. https://doi.org/10.5516/NET.03.2012.047.
Bal Raj Sehgal, 2012. Nuclear Safety in Light Water Reactors. Academic Press.
Beale, J.C., Reitz, R.D., 1999. Modeling spray atomization with the Kelvin-Helmholtz/
Rayleigh-Taylor hybrid model. Atom. Sprays 9 (6), 623–650. https://doi.org/10.
1615/AtomizSpr.v9.i6.40.
Clift, R., Grace, J.R., Weber, M.E., Weber, M.F., 1978. Bubbles, Drops and Particles.
Academic Press.
Eguchi, W., Adachi, M., Miyake, Y., Sakamoto, T., 1975. Mechanism and rate of dilute
iodine vapor absorption by aqueous sodium hydroxide solution. J. Nucl. Sci. Technol.
12 (9), 567–580.
Goel, P., Moharana, A., Nayak, A.K., 2018. Measurement of scrubbing behaviour of si-
mulated radionuclide in a submerged venturi scrubber. Nucl. Eng. Des. 327, 92–99.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.12.003.
Hills, J.H., 1995. Behavior of venturi scrubbers as chemical reactors. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.
34, 4254–4259.
Hsiang, L.P., Faeth, G.M., 1992. Near-limit drop deformation and secondary breakup. Int.
J. Multiphase Flow 18 (5), 635–652. https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-9322(92)
90036-G.
Horiguchi, N., Yoshida, H., Uesawa, S., Kaneko, A., Abe, Y., 2013. Research and
Development of Self-Priming Venturi Scrubber for Filter Venting: Preliminary
Analysis and Observation of Hydraulic Behavior in Venturi Scrubber. In: Proc. of 21st
International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, Paper No. ICONE21-16287. doi:10.
1115/ICONE21-16287.
Lehner, M., 1998. Aerosol separation efficiency of a venturi scrubber working in self-
priming mode. Aerosol Sci. Technol. 28, 389–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/
02786829808965533.
Lindau, L., 1988. FILTRA-MVSS, a system for reactor accidents mitigation. J. Aerosol Sci.
19 (7), 1389–1392.
Mariana, Sumida, K., Satake, T., Maezawa, A., Takeshita, T., Uchida, S., 2004.
Experimental and modeling study on CO2 absorption in a cyclone scrubber by phe-
nomenological model and neural networks. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 21 (3), 589–594.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02705492.
OECD/NEA/CSNI, 2014. Status Report on Filtered Containment Venting. NEA/CSNI/R
(2014)7.
Schmehl, R., Maier, G., Wittig, S., 2000. July. CFD analysis of fuel atomization, secondary
droplet breakup and spray dispersion in the premix duct of a LPP combustor. In: 8th
International Conference on Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems, Pasadena, CA.
Steinberger, R.L., Treybal, R.E., 1960. Mass transfer from a solid soluble sphere to a
flowing liquid system. AIChE J. 6 (2), 227–232. https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.
690060213.
Thompson, T.J., Beckerley, J.G., 1970. The Technology of Nuclear Power Reactor Safety
Vol. 1 The MIT Press.
Wu, P., Kirkendall, K.A., Fuller, R.P., Nejad, A.S., 1997. Breakup processes of liquid jets in
subsonic crossflows. J. Propul. Power 13 (1), 64–73. https://doi.org/10.2514/2.
5151.
Zhou, Y., Sun, Z., Gu, H., Miao, Z., 2016. Performance of iodide vapour absorption in the
venturi scrubber working in self-priming mode. Ann. Nucl. Energy 87, 426–434.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2015.09.026.