Ensuring the long-term functionality of passive auto-catalytic recombiners under operational containment atmosphere conditions - An interdisciplinary investigation

In order to sustain the structural integrity of the containment and other safety relevant components i.e. to avoid a detonation of the hydrogen-air mixture generated during a severe accident in light water reactors, passive auto-catalytic recombiners (PAR) are used for hydrogen removal in many European nuclear power plants (NPP). In 1999, the German NPP Emsland (KKE) was equipped with 58 PAR of AREVA design as an internal accident management measure for a beyond-design accident. Since that time the recombiners are in a stand-by state. As the catalyst elements are exposed to various airborne substances during normal plant operation their function is controlled periodically by testing selected catalyst sheets in a specially designed device. Under the conservative test conditions during this procedure some catalyst sheets showed a delayed responding behavior. First internal analysis gave indication of a beginning fouling on the catalytic surface.The aim of a precautionary investigation performed in cooperation between KKE, Forschungszentrum Juelich and RWTH Aachen University was to characterize the composition of the fouling and to correlate it with potential sources within the containment.In the framework of the investigation the reports of the periodic inspections were analyzed and appropriate sample sheets were selected from the installation. These samples were subjected to a comprehensive chemical surface analysis in order to identify effects like thermal sintering, poisoning or a blocking of the catalytic surface (Baerns, M., 2004. Basic Principles in Applied Catalysis, Springer Verlag). Along with the chemical analysis the catalytic activity of the samples was assessed in several test series in order to correlate the chemically quantified deposition on the catalyst samples with the characteristics of the start-up and the steady-state performance of the recombination reaction. In a final step, possible sources of the fouling were analyzed with regard to their possible contribution to the phenomena. According to the results achieved, measures have been implemented at KKE in order to optimize procedures and to enhance the performance of the PARs. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved