Study of hydrodynamics and iodine removal by self-priming venturi scrubber

Filtered containment system is a passive safety system that controls the over-pressurization of containment in case of a design-based accidents by venting high pressure gaseous mixture, consisting of air, steam and radioactive particulate and gases like iodine, via a scrubbing system. An indigenous lab scale facility was developed for research on iodine removal by venturi scrubber by simulating the accidental scenario. A mixture of 0.2 % sodium thiosulphate and 0.5 % sodium hydroxide, was used in scrubbing column. A modified mathematical model was presented for iodine removal in venturi scrubber. Improvement in model was made by addition of important parameters like jet penetration length, bubble rise velocity and gas holdup which were not considered previously. Experiments were performed by varying hydrodynamic parameters like liquid level height and gas flow rates to see their effect on removal efficiency of iodine. Gas holdup was also measured for various liquid level heights and gas flowrates. Removal efficiency increased with increase in liquid level height and gas flowrate up to an optimum point beyond that efficiency was decreased. Experimental results of removal efficiency were compared with the predicted results, and they were found to be in good agreement. Maximum removal efficiency of 99.8% was obtained.(c) 2022 Korean Nuclear Society, Published by Elsevier Korea LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).