Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
(OP)
Dear All,
maybe I'll go off the Forum topics, but I'd like to draw your attention on something it happened to me to read in these almost-summer-holiday days...
I'm talking about "The Hunt for Red October" novel by Tom Clancy*, where the sinking of the fictional Soviet submarine "Politovskij" is described.
It found interesting to read how the imminent cause for the nuclear reactor explosion (in the writer's tale) was the breakdown and drifting of a butterfly valve part in a refrigeration circuit...!
The various steps leading to the incident are described in details: well, I feel that is just... techno-babble**, more than a realistic scenario; but I would like to know the opinion of the other Members who have read the book...
This curiosity arises also because, unluckily, I've only got the Italian translation of the novel, at the moment, a translation that seems to me very inaccurate, especially from the technical standpoint: so the part of the valve which cracked and teared away is called "àncora della valvola" = "valve anchor"...? (Just one more example: I suspect that "computer chips" was translated with "coriandoli dell'elaboratore", where "coriandoli" means the small bits of colored paper usually thrown around during carnival parties...!)
Thanks for your attention, 'NGL
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* see: htt p://en.wik ipedia.org /wiki/The_ Hunt_for_R ed_October
** see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technobabble
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maybe I'll go off the Forum topics, but I'd like to draw your attention on something it happened to me to read in these almost-summer-holiday days...
I'm talking about "The Hunt for Red October" novel by Tom Clancy*, where the sinking of the fictional Soviet submarine "Politovskij" is described.
It found interesting to read how the imminent cause for the nuclear reactor explosion (in the writer's tale) was the breakdown and drifting of a butterfly valve part in a refrigeration circuit...!
The various steps leading to the incident are described in details: well, I feel that is just... techno-babble**, more than a realistic scenario; but I would like to know the opinion of the other Members who have read the book...
This curiosity arises also because, unluckily, I've only got the Italian translation of the novel, at the moment, a translation that seems to me very inaccurate, especially from the technical standpoint: so the part of the valve which cracked and teared away is called "àncora della valvola" = "valve anchor"...? (Just one more example: I suspect that "computer chips" was translated with "coriandoli dell'elaboratore", where "coriandoli" means the small bits of colored paper usually thrown around during carnival parties...!)
Thanks for your attention, 'NGL
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* see: htt
** see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technobabble
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RE: Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
Maybe someone with direct experience in Soviet submarine design will address your more specific issues, but with experience in U.S. submarine power cycles I found it credible.
David
RE: Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
I don't have the book here in my office now (it's at home), but - as far I can remember - yes, the valve was in a circuit containing both steam and liquid water (during the reactor operation); but I don't know if its function was on/off or throttling.
In addition, I recall it was made of titanium (and Clancy develops some considerations about the thermal and mechanical resistance of such a metal, in comparison with the stainless steel of other components of the same circuit...).
Thank you very much for your contribution!!
Ciao, 'NGL
RE: Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
Going the Big Inch!![[worm] worm](https://www.tipmaster.com/images/worm.gif)
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com
RE: Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
- the episode in object is narrated in the chapter entitled "Eighth Day (December 10th, Friday)";
- the butterfly valve seems to be a 4" one installed on a 6" stainless steel pipeline;
- the valve is closed at the moment of failure, and the component that comes adrift ("anchor" as per the approximative Italian translation) is evidently the valve disc, even if the valve stem is not mentioned (while the seat ring is)...
As far as I can understand, the causes for valve failure were:
- the mechanical vibration and fluid mass oscillations (approaching to a system resonance frequency, and mainly due to a high pressure pump which was not repaired to avoid stopping the hunt...), and
- the titanium instability caused by the long exposure to neutron emissions.
Clancy justifies the titanium material selection with the resistance to high temperature corrosion (but it makes little sense to me, also because the rest of the piping is in stainless steel...).
RE: Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
Geoffrey D Stone FIMechE C.Eng;FIEust CP Eng
www.waterhammer.bigblog.com.au
RE: Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
Going the Big Inch!![[worm] worm](https://www.tipmaster.com/images/worm.gif)
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com
RE: Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
RE: Butterfly valve failure causing Nuclear Submarine sinking
There's no choice, I must get the original English version...