ABSTRACT
Objective Tostudy the influence of pipe structures on the mixing uniformity of airborne effluents from nuclear power plant chimneys. Methods We used the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method to simulate the velocity distribution and gas mixing in long straight pipes (I type) with square section and circular section, 90° single-bend pipes (L type) with square section and circular section, and 90° double-bend pipes (S type and U type) with square section and circular section. Results For the long straight pipe, due to the lack of flow disturbance caused by structural changes, the mixing effect was not good; when the pipe section was circular, it might take mixing distance 20 times the hydraulic diameter to achieve the uniformity index required by the relevant standard; for the square pipe, the distance might be longer. In the single bend pipe with square section, the velocity uniformity was improved more greatly after the bend, and the tracer gas met the mixing uniformity at a shorter distance (11 times the hydraulic diameter), as compared with the single bend pipe with circular section. For the S-type double-bend pipe, the tracer gas appeared uniformly mixed after a distance 6 times the hydraulic diameter in the square pipe, and 7 times the hydraulic diameter in the circular pipe. For the U-type double-bend pipe, the gas in the square pipe also achieved uniform mixing ata shorter distance downstream, and the airflow showed greater disturbance when passing through the bend. Conclusion The CFD method can make an accurate prediction for the change patterns of gas mixing uniformity in pipes with different structures, and can partially replace physical experiments to study the factors affecting the mixing uniformity of airborne effluents from the chimney of nuclear power plants.