Hydrodynamic characterization and optimization of Contra-push check valve by numerical simulation

This paper introduced the structure and working principle of a new designed check valve, Contra-push check valve (CPCV), which can release water hammer and valve slam in accidents and special working status of nuclear power systems. The steady and transient characteristics of CPCV are simulated by CFD codes. Based on the experimental data, it is shown that the result is highly dependent on the turbulence model. The renormalization group theory (RNG) k-epsilon model is proved to be more accurate to describe the flow inside the valve. Steady hydraulic characteristics computed with RNG k-epsilon model agreed well with the experimental data at different positions of the plug. The Sensitivity analysis of structure parameters of CPCV were carried out in this study and two key factors were revealed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.