Review of fuel assembly and pool thermal hydraulics for fast reactors

Applicability of RANS models and pressure drop in edge subchannels for 19-pin wire-wrapped fuel bundle channel in CiADS

The accelerator-driven subcritical system has a strong transmutation ability and high inherent safety, and it is internationally recognized as the most promising long-life nuclear waste disposal device. This study involves the construction of a Visual Hydraulic ExperimentaL Platform (VHELP) for the purpose of evaluating the applicability of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models and analyzing the pressure distribution within the fuel bundle channel of China initiative accelerator-driven system (CiADS). Measurements of thirty differential pressures in edge subchannels within a 19-pin wire-wrapped fuel bundle channel were obtained under different conditions using deionized water. The pressure distribution in the fuel bundle channel at Reynolds numbers of 5000, 7500, 10,000, 12,500, and 15,000 was simulated using Fluent. The results show that RANS models obtained accurate results, and the shear stress transport k-ω model provided the most accurate prediction of the pressure distribution. The difference between the results of the Shear stress transport (SST) k-ω model and experimental data was the smallest, and the maximum difference was ±5.57%. Moreover, the error between the experimental data and numerical results of the axial differential pressure was smaller than that of the transverse differential pressure. The pressure periodicity in axial and transverse directions (one pitch) and a relatively three-dimensional pressure measurements were studied. The static pressure fluctuated and decreased periodically as the z-axis coordinate increased. These results can facilitate research on the cross-flow characteristics of liquid metal-cooled fast reactors.

Laminar Natural Convection Heat Transfer From Vertical 7 × 7 Rod Bundles in Liquid Sodium

Laminar natural convection heat transfer from vertical 7 × 7 rod bundle in liquid sodium was numerically analyzed to optimize the thermal–hydraulic design for the bundle geometry with equilateral square array (ESA). The unsteady laminar three-dimensional basic equations for natural convection heat transfer caused by a step heat flux were numerically solved until the solution reaches a steady-state. The code of the parabolic hyperbolic or elliptic numerical integration code series (PHOENICS) was used for the calculation considering the temperature dependence of thermophysical properties concerned. The 7 × 7 heated rods for diameter (D = 0.0076 m), length (L = 0.2 m) and L/D (=26.32) were used in this work. The surface heat fluxes for each cylinder, which was uniformly heated along the length, were equally given for a modified Rayleigh number, (Raf,L)ij and (Raf,L)Nx×Ny,S/D, ranging from 3.08 × 104 to 4.28 × 107 (q = 1 × 104∼7 × 106 W/m2) in liquid temperature (TL = 673.15 K). The values of ratio of the diagonal center-line distance between rods for bundle geometry to the rod diameter (S/D) for vertical 7 × 7 rod bundle were ranged from 1.8 to 6 on the bundle geometry with ESA. The spatial distribution of average Nusselt numbers for a vertical single cylinder of a rod bundle, (Nuav)ij, and average Nusselt numbers for a vertical rod bundle, (Nuav,B)Nx×Ny,S/D, were clarified. The average values of Nusselt number, (Nuav)ij and (Nuav,B)Nx×Ny,S/D, for the bundle geometry with various values of S/D were calculated to examine the effect of array size, bundle geometry, S/D, (Raf,L)ij and (Raf,L)Nx×Ny,S/D on heat transfer. The bundle geometry for the higher (Nuav,B)Nx×Ny,S/D value under the condition of S/D = constant was examined. The general correlations for natural convection heat transfer from a vertical Nx×Ny rod bundle with the ESA and equilateral triangle array (ETA), including the effects of array size, (Raf,L)Nx×Ny,S/D and S/D were derived. The correlations for vertical Nx×Ny rod bundles can describe the theoretical values of (Nuav,B)Nx×Ny,S/D for each bundle geometry in the wide analytical range of S/D (=1.8–6) and the modified Rayleigh number ((Raf,L)Nx×Ny,S/D = 3.08 × 104 to 4.28 × 107) within −9.49 to 10.6% differences.