压力容器下腔室冷却剂流动特性数值模拟研究

压力容器流场特性是反应堆热工水力设计的重要依据之一。论文采用三维数值模拟方法,建立了包括进口及环形下降段、下腔室及堆芯进口段、堆芯段的华龙一号反应堆压力容器下腔室分析模型,并采用多孔介质模拟堆芯段压降及流动,在网格数量级敏感性分析的基础上确定了最终网格模型,对运行工况下压力容器下腔室冷却剂的流动特性进行了研究。结果表明,下腔室出现逆时针漩涡流动,冷却剂在冲刷格架板后在下腔室底部汇集并向上流入堆芯;通过分析格架板的上、下表面压差发现大、小格架板所受水力冲击方向相反,载荷大小相近;对下堆芯板流水孔归一化流量分配进行了分析。通过求解附加标量浓度输运方程以标记并跟踪冷却剂的分布和交混,结果表明冷却剂随着流动发生逆时针横向交混,平均有43.7%的冷却剂份额会偏移至逆时针的相邻堆芯进口位置,表明交混特性较好。     

反应堆下腔室涡流引起堆芯流动不稳定性试验研究

压水反应堆各个环路中的冷却剂在下腔室发生剧烈湍流交混,下腔室腔体内产生大量涡流,会导致堆芯燃料组件入口流量随机震荡,引发堆芯瞬态流动不稳定性,可能影响到反应堆热工、结构安全或传热性能。本文对反应堆内燃料组件区域流动特性开展研究,通过水力学试验手段获得反应堆堆芯在多种运行工况下,下腔室安装流量分配裙和不安装流量分配裙时的堆芯燃料组件入口流量脉动数据,试验结果表明,流量分配裙对下腔室涡流的抑制效果明显,在碎涡整流作用下,堆芯流量脉动明显降低;随着运行环路数的减少,下腔室流场对称性降低,涡流增强,堆芯流量脉动明显增大;下腔室涡流还会对堆芯入口流量分配均匀度造成不利影响,流量脉动偏大区域对应的流量分配因子明显较小。     

小型压水堆下腔室交混特性实验研究

为研究小型压水堆下腔室的交混特性,本文基于比例模化方法,开展小型压水堆1∶3比例模型水力学实验,通过测量溶液浓度变化,获得在冷管流量均衡和非均衡工况下堆芯入口的交混因子矩阵。研究结果表明,均衡流量工况下,冷管流量的变化对堆芯入口交混因子矩阵未产生明显影响;非均衡流量工况下,靠近出口管的燃料组件交混因子受流量不均衡的影响较大,而中心区域的交混因子变化幅度较小。由此可见,小型压水堆在均衡流量下具有较稳定的下腔室交混特性,而在非均衡工况下需要重点关注出口附近燃料组件交混特性的变化。      

压水反应堆下腔室流动特性数值模拟分析

压水反应堆冷却剂在下腔室内的流动间接影响着堆芯功率分布的变化,为了掌握某新型反应堆下腔室设计的内部冷却剂流动特性并获取重要的流动参数数据,采用ANSYS WORKBENCH建立了下腔室原型结构的三维全尺寸计算模型,利用计算流体力学程序CFX对冷却剂在下腔室内的流动过程进行了数值模拟,获得了最佳估算流量条件下的下腔室内部流场和压力场分布,以及下腔室出口区域的流量分配以及典型结构的压降。计算结果表明该反应堆下腔室的冷却剂出口流量整体分配均匀,但呈现从中心区域到边缘区域的缓慢衰减;内部冷却剂流动导致的最大压力出现在四个径向支承块位置;下腔室内部典型结构的流动阻力大小依次为二次支承组件,均流板和堆芯支承下板。     

超临界水堆的燃料组件设计研究

与现有的轻水堆相比,欧洲高性能轻水概念堆（HPLWR）不但具有更高的系统压力（超过水临界点）,而且具有更高的堆芯冷却剂温升和堆芯出口温度,因此,发电厂汽轮机的发电功率和热效率也更高。在HPLWR中,有7种以上的因素会导致堆芯冷却剂密度发生强烈变化,因此需要为其开发新型燃料组件。系统的设计研究表明：在减少结构材料、优化慢化剂一燃料比和展平燃料棒功率等方面,布置有两排燃料棒及一个中心位置的慢化剂盒的方型燃料组件是最佳的。利用中子学和热力学分析,已完成了HPLWR燃料组件的详细力学设计。此外,提出了上管座、下管座、蒸汽腔室、下部搅混腔室以及下堆芯板等概念设计,组成HPLWR特殊的流体通道。这种设计不仅实现了慢化剂与冷却剂相向流动时的防漏,而且实现了不同介质流的均匀混合。燃料组件设计概念可作为关键部件,用于所有HPLWR的先进堆芯设计。     

反应堆压力容器下腔室交混特性的数值模拟方法研究

反应堆冷却剂系统蒸汽管道发生破口事故后,硼溶液在反应堆压力容器下腔室的对流交混特性对于反应堆安全分析及事故后缓解与抑制策略制定均有重要作用。本文基于实验结果分析了反应堆压力容器下腔室的交混特性及浓度扩散过程,采用数值模拟方法结合实验数据比较了几种主要模型计算结果的准确性与可靠性。分析结果表明,压力容器下腔室的交混特性呈现出外围扩散特征,温度梯度法与组分输运模型具备描述浓度梯度扩散过程的能力,但在细节分布上仍存在进一步改善与优化的空间。     

超临界水冷堆CSR1000堆芯初步概念设计

在借鉴先进沸水堆、压水堆以及现有超临界水冷堆(SCWR)设计技术基础上,提出百万千瓦级超临界水冷堆设计概念CSR1000。采用单水棒、组合式方形燃料组件,在保证燃料棒均匀慢化的同时简化组件结构;堆芯冷却剂流动方案为双流程,以提高堆芯流动稳定性及平均出口温度;堆芯采用157盒燃料组件、高泄漏换料模式。通过堆芯概念设计方案评价,给出了循环长度、卸料燃耗、冷却剂出口温度、最大燃料包壳温度及最大线功率密度等关键参数。     

VVER反应堆燃料组件流动传热特性CFD分析

采用计算流体力学（CFD）方法对俄罗斯水-水高能反应堆（VVER）先进燃料组件（AFA）的流动传热特性进行模拟,获得了额定工况下燃料组件冷却剂流场、流动压降和温度分布等。结果表明:与内部含交混翼的格架相比,AFA燃料组件定位格架的压力损失较小;定位格架围板导向翼附近存在滞流现象,导致燃料组件外围区域冷却剂温度偏高;不同的测量管周向棒功率比K_c对燃料组件出口冷却剂温度的测量值有较大影响。该分析结果可为核电厂堆芯温升预警值ΔT_t的设定提供参考。      

基于图像算法的棒束通道流动交混研究

反应堆燃料组件内冷却剂流动特性是反应堆热工安全分析重要内容,本文针对带定位格架的棒束通道内可视化实验图像数据,基于图像算法对棒束通道内流动交混现象进行了定性与定量的分析,为堆芯热工水力及安全分析提供参考。从数据验证、规律总结、机理分析3个层面上提出了图像处理方法,并采用这些方法对棒束通道内实验数据进行了分析,分析结果表明:定位格架下游流体的流动交混在5 cm开始逐渐缓和;Canny算子适用于定位格架湍流图形的边缘识别。     

小型可运输长寿命铅铋冷却快堆堆芯设计研究

为满足偏远地区供电需求,提出了一种小型可运输长寿命铅铋冷却快堆（STLFR）堆芯设计方案,额定热功率为20 MW,在不换料条件下可运行18 EFPY（有效满功率年）。为减小堆芯体积,堆芯采用蜂窝煤型燃料组件,内设若干冷却剂管道,管外为燃料,实现了较高的堆芯燃料体积占比。为展平堆芯径向功率分布,将堆芯燃料区沿径向划分为三区,分别采用不同的冷却剂管道尺寸。为降低堆芯高度,设计使用含高富集度⁶Li的液态锂作为吸收体的液态吸收体控制系统。为降低初始剩余反应性,在堆芯控制组件与安全组件中布置两组固定式可替换吸收体,分别在堆芯燃耗1/3和2/3寿期时替换为固定式反射体。提出的堆芯设计方案在整个运行寿期内满足热工设计限值,控制系统和安全系统能独立满足堆芯控制和停堆要求。采用准静态反应性平衡方法对5种典型无保护事故工况进行分析,初步证明了堆芯具有固有安全特性。     

大破口失水事故时冷热段同时安注反应堆堆芯会更安全

大破口失水事故时，安注系统由冷段注入的大量冷却剂从压力壳和吊兰之间的环形通道经破口流入安全壳，只有少量的冷却剂流入堆芯。如果把安注系统同时安装在冷段和热段同时进行安注，从热段注入的冷却剂带走了上腔室和堆芯内的较多热量而降低了上腔室内的压力，使冷段注入的冷却剂较容易流入堆芯。同时，从热段注入的部分冷却剂在上腔室内撞击在导向管上后，沿着导向管流入堆芯，堆芯得到的冷却剂比单一冷段安注时得到的冷却剂要多，堆芯会更安全     

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.     

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.     

压水堆下腔室流场对堆芯流场和温度场影响数值分析

利用三维数值模拟,对不同环腔厚度和环腔内冷却剂速度条件下,下腔室内冷却剂流场进行了计算。在此基础上,对压水堆流量孔板冷却剂流量的分配情况进行了分析,并找出了通过流量孔板通孔小组的冷却剂流量与平均流量的最小偏差。分别计算了最小偏差条件下与平均流量条件下,堆芯内板状燃料元件周围冷却剂的流场和温度场。发现由环腔厚度或环腔内冷却剂速度不同而引起的下腔室流场分布不均匀,对堆芯内冷却剂流场和温度场影响较大。     

Pressurized water reactor (PWR) hot-leg streaming: Part 1: Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations

A thermo-hydraulic analysis model was developed to analyze thermal stratification phenomena observed in the hot-legs of pressurized water reactors (PWR). The model uses VIPREW code to determine the flow field and temperature distribution in the reactor fuel region. The temperature readings from the thermal couples located at the exit of the reactor core were used to compare with the VIPREW computed results. The predicted values agree well with the measurements. The VIPREW results are then used as the boundary conditions for the CFD analysis. The CFD computational domain includes the upper plenum and hot-legs and the fifty two (52) control rod guiding tubes to properly include the additional obstructions imposed to the fluid. Different fuel loading patterns were studied to investigate the effects of different power distribution and fuel channel exit water temperature on hot-leg thermal stratification magnitude. The analysis results show that the 52 control rod guide tubes have major contribution to the mixing effect in the upper plenum. The sudden expansion of the cross sectional area in the upper plenum leads to the formation of recirculation vortex that prolongs the duration of coolant in the reactor vessel. The hotter coolant from the center portion tends to flow upwards to the top before exiting at the upper portion of the hot-leg pipes. It leads to higher temperature in the upper portion of the hot-legs. Water from the cooler outer fuel channels tends to trap in the recirculation region before exiting from the lower portion of the hot-legs.     

Experimental determination of the boron concentration distribution in the primary circuit of a PWR after a postulated cold leg small break loss-of-coolant-accident with cold leg safety injection

It is known that under-borated coolant can accumulate in the loops and that it can be transported towards the reactor core during a loss-of-coolant-accident. Therefore, the mixing of weakly borated water inside the reactor pressure vessel was investigated using the ROCOM test facility. Wire-mesh sensors based on electrical conductivity measurement are used to measure in detail the spreading of a tracer solution in the facility. The mixing in the downcomer was observed with a measuring grid of 64 azimuthal and 32 vertical positions. The resulting distribution of the boron concentration at the core inlet was measured with a sensor integrated into the lower core support plate providing one measurement position at the entry into each fuel assembly.

The boundary conditions for this mixing experiment are taken from an experiment at the thermal hydraulic test facility PKL operated by AREVA Germany. The slugs, which have a lower density, accumulate in the upper part of the downcomer after entering the vessel. The ECC water injected into the reactor pressure vessel falls almost straight down through this weakly borated water layer and accelerates as it drops over the height of the downcomer. On the outer sides of the ECC streak, lower borated coolant admixes and flows together with the ECC water downwards. This has been found to be the only mechanism of transporting the lower borated water into the lower plenum. In the core inlet plane, a reduced boron concentration is detected only in the outer reaches of the core inlet. The minimum instantaneous boron concentration that was measured at a single fuel element inlet was found to be 66.3% of the initial 2500 ppm.     

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.     

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.     

小型压水堆压力容器内部三维流场计算

In the reactor safety analysis process, it is important to obtain an accurate flow field inside the pressure vessel. Taking the small pressurized water reactor as the research object, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method was used to calculate and analyze the internal flow field of the reactor pressure vessel, and the fuel assembly flow distribution and the lower head mixing characteristics were obtained. The results show that the maximum flow distribution coefficient of the fuel assembly is 1.032, the minimum value is 0.934, and the overall flow distribution is characterized by “large in the middle and small in the edge” under the high-speed symmetrical inlet condition of the two pumps. The flow vortex of the lower head is enhanced, and the uneven distribution of the flow distribution of the fuel assembly is increased, under the high-speed asymmetric inlet condition of the pump. The minimum mixing factor of the coolant flow at the core inlet was calculated to be 0.022 due to the insufficient mixing characteristics of the lower head.     

Experiments at the mixing test facility ROCOM for benchmarking of CFD codes

For the validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes, experimental data on fluid flow parameters with high resolution in time and space are needed.Rossendorf Coolant Mixing Model (ROCOM) is a test facility for the investigation of coolant mixing in the primary circuit of pressurized water reactors. This facility reproduces the primary circuit of a German KONVOI-type reactor. All important details of the reactor pressure vessel are modelled at a linear scale of 1:5. The facility is characterized by flexible possibilities of operation in a wide variety of flow regimes and boundary conditions. The flow path of the coolant from the cold legs through the downcomer until the inlet into the core is equipped with high-resolution detectors, in particular, wire mesh sensors in the downcomer of the vessel with a mesh of 64 × 32 measurement positions and in the core inlet plane with one measurement position for the entry into each fuel assembly, to enable high-level CFD code validation. Two different types of experiments at the ROCOM test facility have been proposed for this purpose. The first proposal concerns the transport of a slug of hot, under-borated condensate, which has formed in the cold leg after a small break LOCA, towards the reactor core under natural circulation. The propagation of the emergency core cooling water in the test facility under natural circulation or even stagnant flow conditions should be investigated in the second type of experiment. The measured data can contribute significantly to the validation of CFD codes for complex mixing processes with high relevance for nuclear safety.