This paper deals with experimental tests of steam condensation in a water pool at atmospheric pressure and temperature in the range 15-100 °C. The activity is performed in the frame of a research program, funded by the ITER organization, for the study of dust deposition, produced in the ITER Vacuum Vessel and entrained by the steam and non condensable gas into the Pressure Suppression Tanks in the case of a Loss of Coolant Accident. The steam condensation into a subcooled water pool has been investigated to characterise the condensation regimes occurring during dust deposition tests. The dust distribution on the tank walls strongly depends on the steam jet length and on the effective heat transfer coefficient. Few grams of dust reduce the water transparency, therefore separated tests without dust overcome this drawback. Measurements of the lengths and surfaces of the steam jets (which permit to calculate effective average heat transfer) have been performed by means of image analyses and have been compared with theoretical correlations. The comparison showed a good agreement between the experimental data and theoretical correlations. Useful data have been obtained for implementing numerical models of dust deposition and for understanding the dust distribution on the tank wall obtained in the experimental tests.

This paper deals with an experimental and numerical analysis of the deposition of ITER dust simulant inside a reduced scale Vacuum Vessel Pressure Suppression System (VVPSS) of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). This research, funded by the ITER Organization, aims to analyse the dust deposition in a water container relevant for the ITER VVPSS, the dust removal by means of robotised apparatuses and their decontamination efficiency. The experimental rig, built at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering (DICI) of the University of Pisa (Italy), is described and the results of a preliminary experimental test are illustrated, underlining that 2 and 82% of dust mass was strongly and lightly bound to the water container surfaces, respectively, and 16 % were not deposited in the water tank. Furthermore, three numerical analyses were carried out implementing a model of the experimental rig in the Enel Code for Analysis of Radionuclide Transport (ECART) to determine the relevance of different parameters on the deposition, resuspension and removal of dust. The numerical simulations allowed to specify dust mass deposition on the different rig components, revealing a strong dust retention (about 66%) in the first part of the injection piping in case of coarse granulometry. Finest lognormal dust distribution was instead able to reach the water container (about 90%). Moreover, the numerical simulations permitted to define more precisely the test matrix and to analyse the experimental results.