Study on slugging phenomenon as water hammer initiation is important to do. This is because it has very wide applications, among others, on the hot leg pipe, a pipe that connects the reactor core to steam generators in pressurized water reactor (PWR), in which the steam has the function to rotate the turbines, drive generators and produce electricity. Other applications can be used in steam transport in the animal feed industry, eucalyptus oil plants, chemical plants, air conditioning, car radiators and so on.
Such was stated by Sukamta, S.T, M.T, Monday (27/2) when performing an open examination of Engineering doctoral program at UGM. The lecturer of Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta was accompanied by promoter, namely Prof. Dr. Ir. Indarto, DEA and co-promoters Ir. Purnomo, MSME, Ph.D. and Dr.Eng. Tri Agung Rohmat, B.Eng., M.Eng, defending his dissertation Study on the Slugging Phenomenon as Water Hammer Initiation in Steam Condensation Process inside Horizontal Pipe.
From the research, it shows a new finding in the form of steam and condensate flow map. That there are three patterns, namely the presence of non-slugging flow, transition (Wavy) and slugging. Sluging itself is an event of a fluid blockage in the pipe line that is caused by liquid, clogging and blocking the flow that scram in the pipeline. "Because the blocking there is steam trapped therein, if the steam is then driven by the next steam then it will break because of the high pressure," said Sukamta in the meeting room on the second floor of Faculty of Engineering General Office.
The high temperatures lead to broken pipes or ducts and harm the environment. Some industrial machinery and especially nuclear reactor does not cover the possibility of this event. Even in the U.S. between 1991-1997, such phenomenon often occured. "It occurred four times, resulted in 20 people being disabled and killing some people," he said.
Sukamta concluded that the flow data pattern map of non-slugging area includes stratified and wavy, which is the transition between wavy- slugg flow and slugging (slug and large slug). The slug and large-slug flow patterns are defined as the initiation of the water hammer phenomenon due to steam condensation. Besides in the transition on the wavy-slug flow pattern occurs a range of cooling water mass flow rate from "small" to "medium" and the steam flow rate was "average", furthermore the cooling water flow rate was "very small" and the steam mass flow rate was "high".
"This study certainly gives a positive contribution in the development of data base related to the slugging as water hammer phenomenon, especially in horizontal pipes. This data is important as an validation input of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as well as in the designing of early warning system for the safety of two-phase flow piping installations particularly for steam-condensate, such as the hotleg pipe of pressurized water reactor (PWR) type of nuclear reactor, condenser, evaporator, radiator, steam transport system in industry, eucalyptus oil plants, animal feed plants, chemical plants, air conditioning and others," explained the husband of Wahidatun Hidayah, S.Ag, and the father of four children who graduated as UGM’s 1589th doctor.