Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A dry filtered containment venting system for a nuclear reactor containment comprising:a housing; anda plurality of round and/or elongated aerosol filters inside the housing for removing contaminant aerosols from gas passing through the housing during venting of the containment,the housing including at least one inlet portion configured for directing gas into the plurality of aerosol filters during the venting of the containment and an outlet portion for gas filtered by the plurality of aerosol filters during the venting of the containment,the at least one inlet portion being arranged with respect to the plurality of aerosol filters such that, when a flow of gas through the outlet portion is closed off, gas flows through the at least one inlet portion to remove decay heat of the aerosols captured in the plurality of aerosol filters by at least one of convective, radiant and conductive heat transfer. 2. The dry filtered containment venting system as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one inlet portion includes an inlet pipe and an inlet tubesheet, the outlet portion including an outlet pipe and an outlet tubesheet, the dry filtered containment venting system further comprising a plurality of tubes extending between the inlet tubesheet and the outlet tubesheet, each of the plurality of tubes including at least one of the aerosol filters positioned therein to capture contaminants within an airflow passing through the system. 3. The dry filtered containment venting system as recited in claim 2 wherein each of the plurality of tubes further includes a sieve positioned therein to capture contaminants within an airflow passing through the system. 4. The dry filtered containment venting system as recited in claim 2 wherein the plurality of tubes have a nominal diameter of approximately ten inches to approximately two inches. 5. The dry filtered containment venting system as recited in claim 2 wherein in at least one of the plurality of tubes, the aerosol filter is positioned in a spaced relationship with respect to the at least one tube, such that a gap is formed between an outer surface of the filter and an inner surface of the at least one tube and that the relative surface area of cold surface to hot surfaces for heat transfer is greater than 1. 6. The dry filter containment venting system as recited in claim 2 further comprising an iodine filter arranged between at least one of the aerosol filters and the outlet portion in a gas flow direction. 7. The dry filtered containment venting system as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one inlet portion includes an inlet pipe and an inlet header, the outlet portion including an outlet pipe and an outlet header, the dry filtered containment venting system further comprising a plurality of tubes extending between the inlet header and the outlet header, each of the plurality of tubes including at least one of the aerosol filters positioned therein to capture contaminants within an airflow passing through the system. 8. The dry filtered containment venting system as recited in claim 7 wherein each of the plurality of tubes further includes a sieve positioned therein to capture contaminants within an airflow passing through the system. 9. The dry filtered containment venting system as recited in claim 7 wherein the plurality of tubes have a nominal diameter of approximately ten inches to approximately two inches. 10. The dry filtered containment venting system as recited in claim 7 wherein in at least one of the plurality of tubes, the filter is positioned in a spaced relationship with respect to the at least one tube, such that a gap is formed between an outer surface of the filter and an inner surface of the at least one tube and that the relative surface area of cold surface to hot surfaces for heat transfer is greater than 1. 11. The dry filtered containment venting system as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one inlet portion includes:a lower inlet portion; andan upper inlet portion,the lower inlet portion arranged for directing gas upward into a lower section of the aerosol filters during the venting of the containment,the upper inlet portion arranged for directing gas downward into an upper section of the aerosol filters during the venting of the containment,the lower inlet portion and the upper inlet portion being arranged such that gas flows in through the lower inlet portion upward past the lower and upper sections of the aerosol filter and out past the upper inlet portion when a flow of gas through the outlet portion is closed off so as to allow a forced convective cooling of the decay heat of aerosols captured in the aerosol filters. 12. The dry filter containment venting system as recited in claim 11 wherein the aerosol filters each define a horizontally extending channel therein. 13. The dry filter containment venting system as recited in claim 12 wherein the aerosol filters are arranged with respect to the lower and upper inlet portions such that during venting of the containment gas streams enter both the lower and upper inlet portions and flow into the aerosol filters into the channels and then horizontally out of the outlet portion. 14. The dry filter containment venting system as recited in claim 13 further comprising an iodine filter horizontally between the aerosol filters and the outlet portion, the gas flowing into the channels passing through the iodine filter before flowing horizontally out of the outlet portion. 15. The dry filter containment venting system as recited in claim 14 wherein the iodine filter is a molecular sieve. 16. The dry filter containment venting system as recited in claim 14 wherein the lower inlet portion, the upper inlet portion and the at least one outlet portion are integral with the housing and form an integral structure configured for mounting in a wall of the nuclear reactor containment such that the lower inlet portion and the upper inlet portion are inside the containment and the least one outlet portion directs filtered gas out of the containment. 17. The dry filter containment venting system as recited in claim 12 wherein the aerosol filters are arranged with respect to the lower and upper inlet portions such that when a flow of gas through the outlet portion is closed off a gas stream enters the lower inlet portion and flows past the aerosol filters and upwardly out of the upper inlet portion. 18. The dry filter containment venting system as recited in claim 1 wherein the aerosol filters are round metal fiber filters. 19. The dry filter containment venting system as recited in claim 1 wherein the plurality of aerosol filters are each elongated and extend longitudinally between a longitudinal inlet end and a longitudinal outlet end, the plurality of aerosol filters being arranged such that gas filtered by the aerosol filters flows out the longitudinal outlet end of each of the aerosol filters and out the outlet portion when the outlet portion is open.