Application of local flow models in predicting distributions of erosion-corrosion locations

A methodology proposed in the present study effectively investigated the erosion/corrosion (E/C) phenomena, which included a three-dimensional, two-fluid model to simulate,flow characteristics within the piping and E/C models to predict distributions of E/C locations. This methodology had been proven in a previous study and can be applied to reduce the ultrasonic measurement points on the fittings, and consequently, shorten the outage duration of power plants. Through three-dimensional hydraulic simulations, the impacts of gravitational and centrifugal forces on two-phase,flow behaviors were captured. Imbalance separation of phase and mass in a T-junction also was predicted. Compared with distributions of wear sites measured by the plant staff, E/C locations predicted by the current flow models showed satisfactory agreements. In addition, this proposed model also captured the rank of E/C thinning for different fittings of the same kind in the whole steam system. Results revealed that the current methodology provided a good diagnostic and predictive tool to evaluate distributions of E/C wear sites.