Abstract: The third generation of large advanced pressurized water reactor (PWR) is equipped with the passive residual heat removal system (PRHRS), including the large-volume high-level water tank and its built-in passive residual heat removal heat exchanger (PRHR HX), and automatic depressurization system (ADS) sparger. It has complex two-phase flow behavior and special heat and mass transfer characteristics in the operation process. In recent years, with the rise of engineering requirements and related researches on the passive safety system, some researches on the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of passive cooling water tank and its built-in key components have been carried out at home and abroad. In this paper, the review on these problems research was summarized. For the PRHR HX, the heat transfer characteristics of the special C-tube bundle under both the single-phase natural convection and two-phase boiling process were evaluated. The applicability of the classical heat transfer models and the modified empirical correlations was analyzed. In aspect of the high temperature and high pressure steam ejection and condensation of ADS 1 3 sparger, various heat and mass transfer influencing factors including spraying condensation flow patterns, condensation characteristic parameters, condensation heat transfer coefficient, etc., were evaluated. The above researches greatly enrich the design theory of the large-volume water tank. Furthermore, future development directions of the researches on the key heat transfer characteristics of the passive cooling water tank of large advanced PWR were prospected.