1. Field of the Invention
A device having a distributor body slows down and disintegrates a plug of liquid plunging forward in a duct.
2. Description of the Related Art
In nuclear power plants that make use of pressurized water reactors, water is brought under pressure to circulate between the reactor and a boiler. In this conduit system, a pressure-retention tank is included that works as an expansion vessel and has the purpose of absorbing possible variations in pressure in the conduit system. To said pressure-retention tank, a plurality of relief and blow-off valves are connected via particular conduits, which valves have the purpose of becoming opened in order to discharge steam from the pressure-retention tank in case the pressure in the same would unintentionally increase above predetermined maximum permissible values. Immediately up-stream each such valve, a water seal is present that has the purpose of preventing hydrogen gas from reaching and passing the valve (together with the oxygen of the air, hydrogen gas may form explosive detonating gas). The water seal consists of approx. 5-20 l of water that rests in a U-shaped pipe section immediately up-stream the valve. Via a secondary conduit system, the valves communicate with a tank that is denominated blow-off tank.
In the undesired case when the pressure in the pressure-retention tank would come to increase above the maximum permissible value, one or more valves are triggered so far that they are opened in order to discharge the pressurized steam to the blow-off tank. In doing so, the water present in the water seal will be swept along by the discharged steam, and together with the same plunge forward in the secondary conduit system as a plug-like mixture of water and steam. For this reason, those skilled in the art use the denomination “plug of water” for the relatively closely held together volume of water that is put in motion. The individual valve is triggered at a very high pressure. In practice, hence the valve is usually opened at approx. 160-170 bar. This means that the swept-along and forward plunging plug of water obtains an extremely large kinetic energy, meaning that it may exert a very large force on the conduit system in connection with said plug of water changing the direction of flow or slowing down, for instance in bends or the like. In other words, such plugs of water may have a very harmful impact on the secondary conduit system.