三环路压水堆压力容器上腔室交混矩阵数值研究

使用STAR-CCM+软件对三环路压水堆压力容器上腔室流场进行了大规模、精细化三维数值模拟,并采用组分跟踪方法分别对157个燃料组件出口冷却剂流动进行计算,构造了一个具有3×157个元素的“上腔室交混矩阵”,用该矩阵即可定量、精确地描述冷却剂从堆芯流出后,经上腔室内交混并再分配到各热管道的复杂流动过程。研究发现堆芯流出的冷却剂在压力容器上腔室内的交混是并不充分的,径向上不同位置燃料组件流出的冷却剂会在上腔室同热管道的接口区域存在明显的对应关系,而燃料组件径向功率分布的差异必然导致热管道中冷却剂热分层现象的产生。      

CFD analysis of PWR core top and reactor vessel upper plenum internal subdomain models

One aspect of the Westinghouse AP1000™¹ reactor design is the reduction in the number of major components and simplification in manufacturing. One design change relative to current Westinghouse reactors of similar size is that AP1000 reactor vessel has two nozzles/hot legs instead of three. With regard to fuel performance, this design difference creates a different flow field in the reactor vessel upper plenum. The flow exiting from the core and entering the upper plenum must turn toward one of the two outlet nozzles and flow laterally around numerous control rod guide tubes and support columns. Also, below the upper plenum are the upper core plate and the top core region of the 157 fuel assemblies and 69 guidetube assemblies.To determine how the lateral flow in the top of the core and upper plenum compares to the current reactors a CFD model of the flow in the upper portion of the AP1000 reactor vessel was created.Before detailed CFD simulations of the flow in the entire upper plenum and top core regions were performed, conducting local simulations for smaller sections of the domain provided crucial and detailed physical aspects of the flow. These sub-domain models were used to perform mesh sensitivities and to assess what geometrical details may be eliminated from the larger model in order to reduce mesh size and computational requirements. In this paper, CFD analysis is presented for two subdomain models: the top core region and control rod guide tube region. These models are chosen for simulation because guide tube and top core region (including top grid, top nozzle, and hold-down device) are the major components of upper plenum effecting the flow patterns and pressure distribution.The top core region, corresponding to ¼ of fuel assembly, includes components as upper part of the fuel assemblies (top grid, fuel rods, top nozzle), core component hold-down devices, and upper core plates. These components distribute the core flow to different sections of guidetube regions. Mesh sensitivity studies have been conducted for each individual part in order to determine the proper geometrical simplifications. Pressure drop measurement data are compared with the predicted CFD results and act as a guideline for the mesh selection.The guidetube region includes control rod guidetubes themselves, adjacent support columns and open regions. In this study, two models of subdomains are analyzed: (1) a ¼ section of one control rod guide tube by itself and (2) a representative unit cell containing two ¼ sections of adjacent control rod guide tubes and one ¼ section of a neighboring support column.Predicted flow rates at each of the outflow locations in conjunction with results from the mesh sensitivity studies provide guidance on (1) what geometry to preserve or remove, (2) what geometry can be simplified to reduce the required mesh, and (3) an estimate of the total mesh required to model the entire upper plenum and top fuel domain.The commercial CFD code STAR-CCM+ is employed to generate the computational mesh, to solve the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible flow with a Realizable k–? turbulence model, and to post-process the results.     

Experimental Study on Thermal Stratification in a Reactor Vessel of Innovative Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor—Mitigation Approach of Temperature Gradient across Stratification Interface—

An innovative sodium-cooled fast reactor has been investigated as part of the fast reactor cycle technology development project (FaCT). Thermal stratification after a scram is one of the main thermal loads of a reactor vessel (R/V). R/V has an upper inner structure (UIS), which consists of perforated horizontal plates and control rod guide tubes, and has a slit in the radial direction for fuel handling. The UIS slit causes an asymmetric flow pattern in R/V. A water experiment using a 1/10-scale model was carried out. A steep temperature gradient across the stratification interface was observed at the neighborhood of the UIS slit in the experiment. This means that the jet through the UIS slit entrains the bottom of the stratification interface. In order to mitigate the temperature gradient across the stratification interface, the height of a plug, which was installed in the upper plenum to infill a hole at the dipped plates where a fuel handling machine was inserted during a fuel exchange operation, was changed as the parameter in the experiment. The experimental result shows that the temperature gradient near the R/V wall in the case of the lower plug position was 21% smaller than that in the case of the higher plug position. This reduction of the temperature gradient was sufficient to maintain the structural integrity of the R/V wall against the thermal stratification.     

基于CFD的铅铋快堆上腔室降阶热分层模型开发

在铅铋快堆紧急停堆后，上腔室发生热分层现象对堆内结构完整性和自然循环余热排出能力产生重要影响，需要重点关注。为克服传统热分层分析方法的缺陷，基于计算流体动力学（CFD）程序Fluent得到高精度的全阶快照，通过特征正交基分解（POD）与Galerkin投影结合的方法构建降阶热分层模型。通过与CFD全阶热分层模型对热分层现象进行对比分析，研究结果表明所开发的降阶热分层模型能很好地模拟上腔室温度分布，能快速地开展铅铋快堆事故下的热分层界面特性研究。本文研究对热分层现象产生机理、有效遏制热分层现象产生提供了重要分析工具。     

Analysis of the hot gas flow in the outlet plenum of the very high temperature reactor using coupled RELAP5-3D system code and a CFD code

The very high temperature reactor (VHTR) system behavior should be predicted during normal operating conditions and postulated accident conditions. The plant accident scenario and the passive safety behavior should be accurately predicted. Uncertainties in passive safety behavior could have large effects on the resulting system characteristics. Due to these performance issues in the VHTR, there is a need for development, testing and validation of design tools to demonstrate the feasibility of the design concepts and guide the improvement of the plant components. One of the identified design issues for the gas-cooled reactor is the thermal mixing of the coolant exiting the core into the outlet plenum. Incomplete thermal mixing may give rise to thermal stresses in the downstream components. To provide flow details, the analysis presented in this paper was performed by coupling a VHTR model generated in a thermal hydraulic systems code to a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) outlet plenum model. The outlet conditions obtained from the systems code VHTR model provide the inlet boundary conditions to the CFD outlet plenum model. By coupling the two codes in this manner, the important three-dimensional flow effects in the outlet plenum are well modeled while avoiding modeling the entire reactor with a computationally expensive CFD code. The values of pressure, mass flow rate and temperature across the coupled boundary showed differences of less than 5% in every location except for one channel. The coupling auxiliary program used in this analysis can be applied to many different cases requiring detailed three-dimensional modeling in a small portion of the domain.     

中国实验快堆热钠池热分层现象研究

中国实验快堆(CEFR)在紧急停堆工况下,会在热钠池上部空间形成热分层现象。热分层出现后,由于上腔室底部存在大量的冷钠(相对而言),这将延缓一回路自然循环的建立。同时,冷钠的存在还会降低自然循环的流量,并对事故停堆后堆芯的冷却产生不利影响。因此,热分层现象应当引起广泛注意。从设备结构的完整性分析上看,快堆热分层现象的出现对堆容器和部分堆内构件是不利的,会使这些部件在结构内部形成明显的热应力,对堆的安全运行构成隐患。本文调研了国内外在该领域的研究状况,分析国外已有的实验研究和理论计算进展,并结合快堆现有的计算分析程序,对CEFR的热分层现象进行深入和较为全面的计算分析。通过计算分析可以看到,在全厂断电工况下,在热钠池的上部会初步形成稳定的热分层,分层界面位于中间热交换器入口的下方,但是热分层现象不会对堆的自然循环构成影响。     

Single-pass core design of a low-temperature Super LWR

A supercritical-pressure light water cooled and moderated reactor (Super LWR) with a single-pass flow scheme is developed for simplifying upper core structures. Both coolant in the fuel channels and the water rods flow upward and are mixed in the upper plenum. It eliminates the moderator guide/distribution tubes in the upper core that were used in the previous Super LWR design adopting two-pass coolant flow scheme. This core design adopts a four-batch fuel management scheme and an out–in fuel loading pattern. One hundred and twenty-one fuel assemblies with an active height of 3.7 m are included. The flow rate fraction for water rods is 3.5%, and the thermal insulator is used to keep the moderator temperature below pseudocritical temperature. The equilibrium core is analyzed by using neutronic and thermal-hydraulic coupled calculation. The results show that the maximum cladding surface temperature (MCST) is limited to 485 °C with the average outlet temperature of 400 °C. The inherent safety is fulfilled by the positive water density reactivity coefficient and sufficient shutdown margin. On the other hand, the investigation of average outlet coolant temperature varying with MCST is carried out to explore the maximum outlet temperature by employing current MCST criterion and single-pass core design. The average outlet temperature increases with the MCST, and it achieves 465 °C with the thermal efficiency of 43.1% at the MCST criterion of 650 °C. The structure inside the reactor pressure vessel is simplified as a pressurized water reactor.     

压水堆上腔室流场的实验研究

ＰＷＲ作为核电发展的主要堆型，在全世界范围内得到了广泛的应用，也是我国的主要发展堆型。但是对关系到反应堆安全运行的、直接作用在控制棒导向筒上的上腔室流场的分析研究，长期以来由于紊流流动机制的复杂性和上腔室中控制棒导向筒组件布置的密集性，这方面的研究一直没有深入下去。在压水堆运行期间，作用在上腔室构件上的作用力与冷却剂的流动特性有很大的关系，通过模拟实验弄清上腔室的流速分布，对了解作用在控制棒上的水力载荷，以及控制棒能否按指令在导向筒内自由升降和快速下插具有十分重要的意义。本文在３００ＭＷｅ核电站ＰＷＲ上腔室１：４可视化模拟体中，以水为介质进行了上腔室流场的可视化实验研究。采用激光多普勒测速仪（ＬＤＶ）和Ｎ－Ｊ型应变片式测速仪测得了上腔室模拟体中的流速，并用归一化的数据处理方法，显示了整个流场的流速分布规律，找出了整个流速的最大区和最大值。从而为控制棒导向筒的结构力学分析和ＰＷＲ上腔室的数值模拟分析提供实验依据。     

Safety design of Pb–Bi-cooled direct contact boiling water fast reactor (PBWFR)

In Pb–Bi-cooled direct contact boiling water small fast reactor (PBWFR), steam is generated by direct contact of feedwater with primary Pb–Bi coolant above the core, and Pb–Bi coolant is circulated by steam lift pump in chimneys. Safety design has been developed to show safety features of PBWFR. Negative void reactivity is inserted even if whole of the core and upper plenum are voided hypothetically by steam intrusion from above. The control rod ejection due to coolant pressure is prevented using in-vessel type control rod driving mechanism. At coolant leak from reactor vessel and feedwater pipes, Pb–Bi coolant level in the reactor vessel required for decay heat removal is kept using closed guard vessel. Dual pipes for feedwater are employed to avoid leak of water. Although there is no concern of loss of flow accident due to primary pump trip, feedwater pump trip initiates loss of coolant flow (LOF). Injection of high pressure water slows down the flow coast down of feedwater at the LOF event. The unprotected loss of flow and heat sink (ATWS) has been evaluated, which shows that the fuel temperatures are kept lower than the safety limits.     

Validation of a Computational Simulation Method for Evaluating Thermal Stratification in the Reactor Vessel Upper Plenum of Fast Reactors

Validation of a numerical simulation method is carried out for thermal stratification phenomena in the reactor vessel upper plenum of advanced sodium-cooled fast reactors. The study mainly focuses on the fundamental applicability of commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes as well as an inhouse code to the evaluation of thermal stratification behavior including the simulation methods such as spatial mesh distribution and RANS-type turbulence models in the analyses. Two kinds of thermal stratification tests are used in the validation, which is done for relatively simple- and conventional-type upper plenum geometries with water and sodium as working fluids. Quantitative comparison between the simulation and test results clarifies that when used with a high-order discretization scheme of the convection term, the investigated CFD codes are applicable to evaluations of the basic behaviors of thermal stratification and especially the vertical temperature gradient of the stratification interface, which is important from the viewpoint of structural integrity. No remarkable difference is seen in the simulation results obtained using different RANS turbulence models, namely, the standard kε model, the RNG k-ε model, and the Reynolds stress model. It is further confirmed in a numerical experiment that the distribution of two or more meshes within the stratification interface will lead to accurate simulation of the interface temperature gradient with less than 10% error.     

Numerical study on structural integrity of inner barrel caused by thermal stratification in upper plenum of Monju

In Japanese prototype fast reactor, Monju, an inner barrel with several flow holes is placed at an upper plenum adjacent to a core outlet. When the reactor scram occurs, a cold coolant flows into the bottom of the upper plenum through the core outlet and thermal stratification will appear at the upper plenum. And thus, the inner barrel may be damaged by a thermal stress due to thermal stratification. In this study, a structural integrity assessment method is developed based on fluid-structure interaction analysis and cumulative damage rule. First, a three-dimensional thermal-hydraulics analysis is conducted to simulate a turbine trip test from 40% power operation. Full power output conditions are also simulated by modifying conditions of 40% power output conditions. Next, the thermal stress analysis is modified by adding a practical condition, such as a bending stress. Then, the thermal stress is calculated at each location of the inner barrel. Finally, cumulative damage is evaluated by using the present method. It is concluded that a main factor of cumulative damage is a stress near flow holes that causes stress concentration. It is also found that thermal transient within several hundred seconds after the reactor scram is an important factor.     

日本文殊原型快堆堆芯出口腔室热分层现象数值模拟

本文利用商业CFD程序STAR-CCM+,采用合理的网格生成技术及物理模型,对日本文殊原型快堆堆芯出口腔室建立近似1∶1的模型,模拟分析40%额定功率停堆过程中堆芯出口腔室的瞬态工况,获得腔室内较为完整的热分层进程。结果表明：停堆2 min后腔室内出现稳定热分层现象;10～21 min时热分层通过上升桶桶顶位置;10～140 min热分层处于上升筒顶端位置附近期间,腔室内流型不稳定;140 min后热分层完全处于上升桶顶,桶内流型稳定且接近于停堆前。模拟结果与实验数据对比表明,停堆初期4 min内两者符合较好,表明本文模拟方法适用于停堆工况堆芯出口腔室热分层进程模拟;之后模拟进程明显快于实验,分析其偏差主要来自模拟边界及结构与实际的差异。     

International Solvent Extraction Conference ISEC ′90

The supercritical-water-cooled power reactor (SCPR) is expected to reduce power costs compared with those of current LWRs because of its high thermal efficiency and simple reactor system. The high thermal efficiency is obtained by supercritical pressure water cooling. The fuel cladding surface temperature increases locally due to a synergistic effect from the increased coolant temperature, the expanded flow deflection due to coolant density change and the decreased heat transfer coefficient, if the coolant flow distribution is non-uniform in the fuel assembly. Therefore, the SCPR fuel assembly is designed using a subchannel analysis code based on the SILFEED code for BWRs.

The SCPR fuel assembly has many square-shaped water rods. The fuel rods are arranged around these water rods. The fuel rod pitch and diameter are 11.2 mm and 10.2 mm, respectively. Since coolant flow distribution in the fuel assembly strongly depends on the gap width between the fuel rod and the water rod, the proper gap width is examined. Subchannel analysis shows that the coolant flow distribution becomes uniform when the gap width is 1.0 mm. The maximum fuel cladding surface temperature is lower than 600°C and the temperature margin of the fuel cladding is increased in the design.     

Undesirable flow behavior in a proposed validation data set

The next generation nuclear plant (NGNP), whose development is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, will be a very high temperature reactor (VHTR). The VHTR is a single-phase helium-cooled reactor that will provide helium at up to 1000 °C. The prospect of a coolant at these temperatures circulating in the reactor vessel demands that careful analysis be performed to ensure that excessively hot spots are not created and that sufficient mixing of the coolant is obtained. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) coupled with heat transfer will be used to perform the desired analyses. However, primarily because of the imperfect nature of modeling turbulent flow, any CFD calculations used to perform nuclear reactor safety analysis must be validated against experimental data. Experimental data have been taken in a scaled section of the lower plenum of a prismatic VHTR at the matched index of refraction (MIR) facility at the Idaho National Laboratory. These data were taken with the intent that they be examined for use as validation data. A series of investigations have been conducted to assess the MIR data. Issues that have already been examined include the extent of the required computational domain, the outlet boundary condition, the inlet data and the effect of the turbulence model. One of the jets that flow into the model impacts on a wedge, which represents a portion of a hexagonal graphite block that lines the inner wall of the lower plenum. The nature of the flow below this particular jet is such that a randomly varying recirculation zone is created. This recirculation zone is seen to change in size, causing a relatively long-time scale of motion or disturbance of the flow in the model. It is concluded that such a feature is undesirable in a validation data set, firstly because of its apparent random nature and, secondly, because to obtain an appropriate long-time average would be impractical because of the compute time required. It is predicted computationally that by eliminating the first of the four inlet jets into the scaled model, the resulting recirculation zone is rendered stable.     

Debris transport evaluation during the blow-down phase of a LOCA using computational fluid dynamics

The performance of the emergency recirculation water sump under the influence of debris accumulation following a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) has long been of safety concern. Debris generation and transport during a LOCA are significantly influenced by the characteristics of the ejected coolant flow. One-dimensional analyses previously have been attempted to evaluate the debris transport during the blow-down phase but the transport evaluation still has large uncertainties. In this work, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was utilized to evaluate small and fine debris transport during the blow-down phase of a pressurized water reactor, OPR1000. The coolant ejected from the ruptured hot-leg was assumed to expand in an isenthalpic process. The transport of small and fine debris was assumed to be dominated by water-borne transport, and the transport fractions for the upper and lower parts of the containment were quantified based on the CFD analysis. It was estimated that 73% of small and fine debris is transported to the upper part of the containment. This value is close to the values estimated by nuclear regulatory bodies of The United States and Korea using one-dimensional models while it shows a large discrepancy from the value suggested in the NEI 04-07 baseline analysis.     

Investigation on Slit Jet through Upper Internal Structure (UIS) in Highly Compact Vessel of Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor

An advanced loop-type sodium-cooled fast reactor has been developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The upper internal structure (UIS) above the core is a key component where control rod guide tubes are housed. A radial slit is set in the UIS to simplify the fuel-handling system and to reduce the reactor vessel diameter. A high-velocity upward flow is formed in the UIS slit. This slit jet influences thermal hydraulic issues in the reactor vessel. A water experiment was carried out to understand the flow field in the UIS, which is composed of the control rod guide tubes and several horizontal perforated plates with a slit. A refractive index matching method was applied to visualize the flow in such a complex geometry. Velocity measurement using particle image velocimetry showed that the velocity in the UIS slit was accelerated by the multiple slits and kept at a high value at the mid-height of the reactor upper plenum. A numerical simulation was carried out for this complex geometry of the UIS to obtain an adequate simulation method. A comparison between the experimental and analytical velocity profiles showed that the numerical simulation is highly applicable.     

Fuel assembly design study for a reactor with supercritical water

The European concept of the High Performance Light Water Reactor (HPLWR) differs from current light water reactors in a higher system pressure beyond the critical point of water, as well as a higher heat-up of the coolant within the core and thus higher core outlet temperatures, leading to a significant increase in turbine power and thermal efficiency of the power plant. The motivation to develop a novel fuel assembly for the HPLWR is caused by the high variation of coolant density in the core by more than a factor of seven. A systematic design study shows that a square fuel assembly with two rows of fuel rods and a central moderator box is best to minimize the structural material, to optimize the moderator to fuel ratio and to reduce differences of fuel rod power. Using neutronic and thermal-hydraulic analyses, a detailed mechanical design of a fuel assembly of the HPLWR has been worked out. Moreover, concepts for the head piece, the foot piece, the steam plenum and the lower mixing plenum, including the lower core plate, have been developed to account for the individual flow paths of this reactor. These allow a leak-tight counter current flow of moderator water and coolant as well as uniform mixing of different mass flows. The assembly design concept can be used as a general key component for any advanced core design of this reactor.     

压水堆上腔室冷却剂温度振荡现象研究

为了解压水堆上腔室冷却剂的温度振荡现象,利用专业计算软件CFX,采用大涡模拟（LES）方法,对简化上腔室内的瞬态流场进行数值模拟,并与实际数据进行对比分析。结果表明,LES模型可较好地模拟上腔室的温度振荡现象;上腔室出口区域的温度波动多集中于低频部分,未呈现出明显的周期性;出口位置对流场温度分布有明显影响,自入口至上腔室出口中心线所在平面,外围及中心部分温度波动幅度较大,其余区域温度变化幅度较小;而自上腔室出口中心线所在平面至顶部区域,温度波动逐渐趋缓。     

Modification of thermal hydraulic code,THEATRe, with fuel rod behavior models and its application to reactivity-initiated accident (RIA)

During reactor operation, many complex changes occur in fuel rod which affects its thermal, mechanical and material properties. These changes also affect the reactor response to the transient and accident situations. Realistic simulation of fuel rod behavior under transients such as reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) is of great significance. In this study, thermal hydraulic analysis code THEATRe (Thermal Hydraulic Engineering Analysis Tool in Real-time) has been modified by addition of fuel rod behavior models for dynamic simulation of nuclear reactor. Transient changes in gas-gap parameters were taken into account by modeling the gas-gap behavior. Thermo-mechanical behavior of fuel rod is modeled to take into account the thermal, elastic and plastic deformation. To simulate RIA, point reactor kinetics model is also incorporated in the THEATRe code. To demonstrate the transient fuel rod behavior, AP1000 reactor is modeled and three hypothetical RIA cases are simulated. The RIA is considered at three different reactor power levels, i.e. 100, 50 and 1% of nominal power. The investigated parameters are fuel temperature, cladding stress and strain, fuel and cladding thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient in gas-gap. Modified code calculates the fuel rod temperatures according to updated fuel, clad and gas-gap parameters at the onset of steady-state operation and during the transient. The modified code provides lower steady-state fuel temperature as compared to the original code. Stress and strain analyses indicate that the hoop and radial strain is higher at high power locations of the fuel rod; therefore, gap closure process will initially occur in the central portion of the fuel rod and it should be given more emphasis in the safety analysis of the fuel rod and nuclear reactor during accidents and transients.     

数值反应堆堆芯通道级三维热工水力程序CorTAF开发及初步验证

堆芯是核动力系统的核心部件,其完整性是反应堆安全运行的重要前提。传统核反应堆堆芯热工水力分析方法无法满足未来先进核动力系统的高精度模拟需求。本文依托开源CFD平台OpenFOAM,针对压水堆堆芯棒束结构特点建立了冷却剂流动换热模型、燃料棒导热模型和耦合换热模型,开发了一套基于有限体积法的压水堆全堆芯通道级热工水力特性分析程序CorTAF。选取GE3×3、Weiss和PNL2×6燃料组件流动换热实验开展模型验证,计算结果与实验数据基本符合,表明该程序适用于棒束燃料组件内冷却剂流动换热特性预测。本工作对压水堆堆芯安全分析工具开发具有参考和借鉴意义。