Power‐to‐Gas: CO2 Methanation Concepts for SNG Production at the Engler‐Bunte‐Institut

Power-to-Gas approaches comprise different activities to store electric power in form of gaseous energy carriers like hydrogen or methane. The synthesis of SNG (substitute natural gas) and its injection into the natural gas grid allows the utilization of the well-established infrastructure for natural gas storage, distribution and utilization without the need for further changes to the energy system. At the Engler-Bunte-Institut research focuses on catalytic methanation in catalytically coated metallic honeycomb reactors and in slurry bubble column reactors with the aim of evaluating alternative reactor concepts offering optimized heat transfer characteristics as well as maximizing the possibility of dynamic operation. Both concepts are attractive for small to medium scale power-to-gas applications. Hence, a scale-up was performed for bothreactor concepts with the aim of implementation on commercial scale

OECD/NEA PKL-4 benchmark activity. Code assessment of the relevant phenomena associated to a blind IBLOCA experiment

Code assessment and validation is one of the most relevant research lines in thermal hydraulics and best estimate codes. During the last decades, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have sponsored dozens of experimental projects in this field. Most of them were compiled in the CSNI Code Validation Matrix in 1996. Several projects have been promoted in the new century as the SETH, PKL, PKL-2, PKL-3 and PKL-4 at the PKL test facility. In 2017 a benchmark activity was launched within the framework of the OECD/NEA PKL-4 project with the aim of assessing the capabilities of system codes to reproduce the relevant phenomena associated to the IBLOCA scenario. 16 participant organizations from 9 different countries simulated the i2.2 (run 3) experiment in semi-blind conditions. A large variety of system codes were used in the activity: ATHLET, CATHARE, KORSAR, LOCUST, RELAP5, RELAPSCDASIM, SPACE and TRACE. This paper presents the main outcomes for the code assessment of such codes. The first part describes the main features of the experiment and the selection of the key phenomena for code validation. In addition, the paper intoduces a detailed description of each phenomena and the comparison between the experimental data and the blind simulations of the participants. Finally, in the last part of the paper the main sources of uncertainty associated to the codes and the modelling are listed as well as the code assessment conclusions of the benchmark activity. In general, the results obtained by all participants showed a good performance and satisfactory agreement with experimental data, which increases the confidence in current TH code technologies. The overall quality of the contributions was partly a consequence of the excellent documentation and information provided by the PKL team.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Experimental investigation of PWR accident scenarios at the PKL test facility

PKL is the only test facility in Europe that replicates the entire primary side and the most important parts of the secondary side of western-type Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) in the scale of 1:1 in heights. It is also worldwide the only test facility with 4 identical reactor coolant loops arranged symmetrically around the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) for simulation of nonsymmetrical boundary conditions between the reactor loops. Thermal-hydraulic phenomena observed in PWRs are simulated in the PKL test facility for over 40 years. The analyses carried out in these years encompass a large spectrum of accident scenario simulations and corresponding cool-down procedures. The overall goal of the PKL experiments is to show that under accident conditions - even for extreme and highly unlikely assumptions as additional loss of safety systems - the core cooling can be maintained or re-established by automatic or operator- performed procedures and that a severe accident e.g. a core melt-down can be avoided under all circumstances. Another goal of the tests performed in the PKL facility is the provision of data for validation of thermal-hydraulic system codes. This paper presents recent modifications of the PKL facility, applied in order to adapt the facility to the latest western-type designs currently built in the world. The paper discusses also important results obtained in the last years

Integral Test Facility PKL: Experimental PWR Accident Investigation

Investigations of the thermal-hydraulic behavior of pressurized water reactors under accident conditions have been carried out in the PKL test facility at AREVA NP in Erlangen, Germany for many years. The PKL facility models the entire primary side and significant parts of the secondary side of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) at a height scale of 1 : 1. Volumes, power ratings and mass flows are scaled with a ratio of 1 : 145. The experimental facility consists of 4 primary loops with circulation pumps and steam generators (SGs) arranged symmetrically around the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The investigations carried out encompass a very broad spectrum from accident scenario simulations with large, medium, and small breaks, over the investigation of shutdown procedures after a wide variety of accidents, to the systematic investigation of complex thermal-hydraulic phenomena. This paper presents a survey of test objectives and programs carried out to date. It also describes the test facility in its present state. Some important results obtained over the years with focus on investigations carried out since the beginning of the international cooperation are exemplarily discussed