Calandria

Related terms:

Heat Exchanger, Uranium, Calandria Tube, Evaporator, Fuel Channel, Pressure Tube

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Plant life management (PLiM) practices

for pressurised heavy water nuclear re-
actors (PHWR)
R.K. Sinha, ... D.K. Jain, in Understanding and Mitigating Ageing in Nuclear Power
Plants, 2010

Bruce and Darlington reactor assemblies

The calandria vessel is installed inside a shield tank rather than a concrete reactor
vault. The shield tank is a welded carbon steel vessel with double end walls. A
rectangular extension on top of the shield tank supports the reactivity mechanism
deck. A typical shield tank assembly is shown in Fig. 21.11 [4]. The end shields are
welded to, and form an integral part of, the shield tank end walls.
21.11. Shielded tank assembly.

Reproduced courtesy of IAEA [4].

The shield tank contains demineralised water, steel slabs and steel balls to provide
biological shutdown shielding. This water is circulated through the shield tank to
provide cooling for the end shields, calandria shield tank and their attachments.
Stiffeners inside the shield tank prevent distortion due to the hydrostatic pressure
of the water.

In the Bruce B and Darlington reactors (Fig. 21.12) [4], the heavy water moderator
enters the calandria through two sets of nozzles located on the opposite sides of the
calandria shell, and exits through two nozzles at the bottomofthe calandria. In the
BruceAreactor, theheavy water moderatorenters through 16 nozzles in the bottom of
the calandria and flows upthe booster guide tubes before discharging into the vessel
through the booster outlet nozzles near the top of the calandria. Another supply of
moderator enters via a bypass line and six inlet nozzles at the top of the calandria.
Discharge from the calandria is through two discharge nozzles, located at the bottom
of the calandria shell.
21.12. Cross-section of Bruce/Darlington type Reactor.

Reproduced courtesy of IAEA [4].

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Evaporation
J.F. RICHARDSON, ... J.R. BACKHURST, in Chemical Engineering (Fifth Edition),
Volume 2, 2002

Considering the liquor stream

Weak liquor will enter the plant and pass to the calandria where it will be drawn up
as a thin film by the partial vacuum caused by ultimate condensation of vapour in
the condenser. Vaporisation will take place due to heat transfer from condensing
ammonia in the calandria, and the vapour and concentrated liquor will then pass
to a separator from which the concentrated liquor will be drawn off as product. The
vapours will pass to the condenser where they will be condensed by heat transfer to
the evaporating ammonia and leave the plant as condensate. A final point is that any
excess heat introduced by the compressor must be removed from the ammonia by
means of a cooler.

Fuller details of the cycle and salient features of operation are given in Section
14.5.2.

Choice of compressor drive (basis 1 kg water evaporated)

(a) Diesel engine

For 1 kg evaporation, ammonia circulated = 2.28 kg and the work done in compress-
ing the ammonia

For an output of 1 MJ, the engine consumes 0.4 kg fuel.

Thus:

and:

(b) Turbine

The work required is 0.342 MJ/kg evaporation.

Therefore with an efficiency of 70 per cent:

Enthalpy of steam saturated at 700 kN/m2 = 2764 kJ/kg.

Enthalpy of steam saturated at 101.3 kN/m2 = 2676 kJ/kg.

Thus: energy from steam = (2764 - 2676) = 88 kJ/kg or

0.088 MJ/kg
and: steam required = (0.489/0.088) = 5.56 kg/kg evap-
oration
at a cost of:
and hence:

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Evaporation
Howard L. Freese, in Fermentation and Biochemical Engineering Handbook (Third
Edition), 2014

5.3 Short-Tube Vertical Evaporators

The short-tube vertical evaporator, Figure 12.8(d), also known as the calandria or
Robert evaporator, was the first evaporator to be widely used. Tubes 4 and 8 long,
often 2 to 3 in diameter, are located vertically inside a steam chest enclosed by a
cylindrical shell. The early vertical tube evaporators were built without a downcomer
but did not perform satisfactorily, so the central downcomer appeared very early.
There are many alternatives to the center downcomer; different cross-sections,
eccentrically located downcomers, a number of downcomers scattered over the tube
layout, downcomers external to the evaporator body.

The short-tube evaporator has several advantages: low headroom, high heat transfer
rates at high temperature differences, ease of cleaning, and low initial investment.
Disadvantages include large floor space and weight, relatively high liquid holdup,
and poor heat transfer with low temperature differences or with high product vis-
cosity. Natural circulation systems are not well suited for operation at high vacuum.
Short-tube vertical evaporators are best applied when evaporating clear liquids, mild
scaling liquids requiring mechanical cleaning, crystalline product when propellers
are used, and for some foaming products when inclined calandrias are used. Once
considered “standard,” long tube vertical units have largely replaced short tube
vertical evaporators.

Circulation of liquid across the heating surface is caused by the action of the boiling
liquid (natural circulation). The circulation rate through the evaporator is many times
the feed rate. The downcomers are therefore required to permit the liquid to flow
freely from the top tube sheet to the bottom tube sheet. The downcomer flow area
is, generally, approximately equal to the tubular cross-sectional area. Downcomers
should be sized to minimize holdup above the tube sheet in order to improve heat
transfer, fluid dynamics, and minimize foaming. For these reasons, several smaller
downcomers scattered about the tube nest are often the better design.

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Corrosion issues in pressurized heavy

water reactor (PHWR/CANDU®) sys-
tems
R.L. Tapping, in Nuclear Corrosion Science and Engineering, 2012

Calandria tubes
The calandria tubes are rolled into a type 304L stainless steel tubesheet, which forms
each end of the calandria vessel. Calandria tubes, although located in the core of
CANDU reactors, see a considerably less severe environment compared to pressure
tubes because they are subject to much lower pressures and temperatures. The
calandria tubes serve to insulate the pressure tubes from the lower temperature
(less than 100°C) of the moderator and to support them. The calandria tubes also
provide structural rigidity to the calandria vessel. To keep neutron absorption to
a minimum, calandria tubes are made of a zirconium alloy. In current CANDU
reactors, calandria tubes, having an outside diameter of 129 mm, are fabricated by
brake forming, then seam welding, of annealed Zircaloy-2 or Zircaloy-4 strip having
a wall thickness of 1.4 mm. Although all tubes made and installed to date in reactors
have been of Zircaloy-2 material, Zircaloy-4 is equally acceptable. There have been no
corrosion-related issues associated with the calandria vessel or the tubesheet (type
304L stainless steel), although as CANDU reactors enter extended service lives, the
degree of any irradiation-induced aging of the calandria vessel itself remains to be
assessed.

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Dryers
Seán Moran, in Process Plant Layout (Second Edition), 2017

29.10.5 Evaporators
Access must be provided for the use of mechanical tube cleaners (when required)
and for the removal and replacement of tubes. For calandria coaxial with the shell,
this may mean having a removable panel in the building roof above the evaporator.

Space may be needed for additional pipework and valves, to allow one evaporator
and/or external heater to be blanked off for repairs and cleaning while the others
remain on-stream.

Where chemical cleaning is to be used, room must be left (usually on the ground
floor) for the cleaning liquor tanks and pumps. It may be necessary to provide
additional ventilation during cleaning for any toxic fumes which might be generated.

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Evaporation
Zeki Berk, in Food Process Engineering and Technology (Third Edition), 2018

21.6.4 Evaporators With External Tubular Heat Exchangers

The principle of operation of this type of evaporators was exposed in Example 21.4.
The heat transfer element is separated from the evaporator vessel. The liquid is
circulated through the tubes of the heat exchanger (calandria) either by thermal
convection (thermosiphon) or by mechanical pumping. Sufficient pressure is
maintained in the heat exchanger to prevent excessive boiling in the tubes. At a
given time, the bulk of the liquid is in the vessel and only a portion of it is in contact
with hot surfaces (Fig. 21.17). The external heat exchanger is often positioned at
an angle so as to accommodate longer tubes within limited height. Some of the
high-capacity forced recirculation evaporators used for the concentration of tomato
juice (Fig. 21.18) belong to this type.

Fig. 21.17. Evaporator with external heat exchanger, natural circulation.

Evaporator Handbook, APV.

Fig. 21.18. (A) Two-stage evaporator with forced recirculation. (B) High-capacity
forced circulation evaporator in plant.

Courtesy of Rossi & Catelli.

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Boiler plant and auxiliaries

In The Efficient Use of Energy (Second Edition), 1982

Steam for Process

Four broad groups cover general process heating. These are:

1. Evaporation by means of a heating surface.

2. Raising the temperature of the process substance.

3. Maintaining the temperature of the process substance.

4. Distillation by open steam.

The first group covers calandrias in which the steam for heating is on the outside
of the tubes and the liquid to be boiled is inside the tubes; coils or worms where
the steam is inside the tube and the boiling material outside; and shells where the
steam is inside a cylinder whose exterior heats the material, e.g., ironers, calenders,
or jackets heating via the interior surface (boiling pans etc). The second group raises
the temperature of the process substance by either a heating surface or by direct
contact. In the third group the temperature of the process is maintained either
by heating surface or by direct contact; the heat is employed to make good losses
through radiation or heat absorbed by endothermic action, or to effect a curing or
conditioning of the material. The fourth group is used for fractional distillation or
for the deodorizing of fats etc.

Heat transfer is the main problem of groups 1, 2 and 3, but group 4 is different
because heat transfer is not the main factor in steam distillation.

In this process open steam is blown into a liquid, and when the liquid has a
much higher boiling point than the water, the steam and the process-liquid both
exert a partial pressure, and the liquid will boil when the sum of the two equals
the external pressure. It follows that substances with high boiling points may be
distilled at relatively low temperatures. Processes in which steam distillation is used
include stripping of crude benzole from wash oil in the carbonization industries and
deodorization of fats in the food industries. It is particularly useful for processing
materials that are liable to decomposition or degradation at temperatures near their
normal boiling points.

The rate of heat transfer through a heating surface from the steam to the material
which is to be heated depends on the following factors: the temperature difference
between the steam and the material; the actual temperatures; the area of the heating
surface; the thickness and composition of the heating surface; the nature and
thickness of heat-resisting films on the heating surface; the movement of the steam,
and the movement of the material (see App.C11).

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Mainstream Power Reactor Systems

Malcolm Joyce, in Nuclear Engineering, 2018

10.6.2 Design Overview

The development of the heavy water reactor is characterised by several design
variants of the use of heavy water but the CANDU design based on pressure-tubes
is the most successful. The development of the CANDU arose out of early Canadian
experience with related research reactor designs. It has allowed the use of indigenous
Canadian uranium reserves without the requirement to use military enrichment
facilities in foreign countries. Related heavy water reactor designs have been built
outside of Canada in India, Pakistan, Argentina, South Korea, Romania and China.

Although heavy water flows and transports heat to an extent that is very similar
to light water, this is effectively where parallels between fission reactor designs
exploiting these substances end. The CANDU reactor9 is a design in which heat is
generated from a critical reaction in uranium in a cylindrical vessel on its side. The
fuel assemblies lie horizontally in tubes through which heavy-water coolant flows
under pressure. Several hundred of these pressure tubes (cf. 380 in the CANDU 6
design) pass through a cylindrical austenitic stainless steel tank of heavy water; it is
this that constitutes the moderator, and which is known universally as the calandria.
The primary coolant circuit comprises two separate loops passing in both directions
through the calandria (i.e. each supply and return path to/from a steam generator
constitutes a loop), typically with two pumps per loop and a pressuriser in each.
The pressuriser maintains the primary coolant loop pressure with a combination of
heaters and steam relief valve systems.

An important distinction between the two heavy-water components is that during

operation the coolant in the pressure tubes is hot and pressurised (the latter to
ensure that it remains in the liquid phase) whereas in the calandria the moderator
is maintained at a relatively cold temperature (~ 70°C) and at low pressure by
comparison. Each Zircaloy-4 calandria tube contains a zirconium–niobium pressure
tube, typically of 6 m length, in which the fuel bundles are placed. Each tube contains
12 or 13 fuel bundles of 0.5 m in length (depending on the specific design variant).

The calandria is perhaps the most prominent distinguishing design feature of the
CANDU reactor in comparison with light-water cooled/moderated reactor designs.
The heavy-water moderator has two water-based shield tanks on the face of each
end of the calandria and it receives ~ 4.5% of the rated power of the reactor as
heat. This derives mostly from radiation, some from fast neutrons and a little heat
directly from the tubes themselves. Gadolinium or boron is added to the moderator
for long-term reactivity control. The calandria has its own separate coolant circuit
which comprises two pumps and two heat exchangers (cooled by light water). The
moderator is top-filled with helium as a cover gas to inert it and to aid the recovery
of gaseous products formed as a result of radiolysis (deuterium and hydrogen). The
secondary and tertiary coolant stages are based on light water. Schematic diagrams
of the front and side elevations of a CANDU reactor design are given in Fig. 10.9A
and B, respectively.
 Fig. 10.9. (A) A schematic diagram of the front elevation of a CANDU reactor core.
(B) A schematic diagram of the side elevation of a CANDU reactor core. Note that
some details have been omitted in the interests of clarity, particularly the detail of
the control rod drives, ionisation chambers and flux monitors, and that the figure is
not to scale.

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