Pre-conditioning of source term aerosols by intense acoustic fields for FCVS retention

In a severe accident in a Nuclear Power Plant fission products are released from the degraded core and may reach the environment if the containment is lost. Many reactors worldwide had installed Filtered Containment Venting Systems (FCVS) aimed at filtering the particle discharge. After the Fukushima accident one of the main concerns of the nuclear industry has been the search for even better source term mitigation systems. Actually, the PASSAM experimental project (Grant agreement No. 323217 – Euratom 7FP) is building up a database aimed to improve the technology as much as possible within the plant to avoid any particle release. In fact, particle agglomeration processes via the propagation of acoustic waves through a gas could be applied as a pre-conditioning system of the particles load reaching the FCVS for a better decontamination. This paper presents the results of the Aerosol Acoustic Agglomeration experimental campaign, focused on the investigation of nuclear aerosol agglomeration under the effect of intense acoustic fields.