Fuel performance analysis for PWR cores

Attainable discharge burnups for oxide and hydride fuels in PWR cores were investigated using the TRANSURANUS fuel performance code. Allowable average linear heat rates and coolant mass fluxes for a set of fuel designs with different fuel rod diameters and pitch-to-diameter ratios were obtained by VIPRE and adopted in the fuel code as boundary conditions. TRANSURANUS yielded the maximum rod discharge burnups of the several design combinations, under the condition that specific thermal-mechanical fuel rod constraints were not violated. The study shows that independent of the fuel form (oxide or hydride) rods with (a) small diameters and moderate P/Ds or (b) large diameters and small P/Ds give the highest permissible burnups limited by the rod thermal-mechanical constraints. TRANSURANUS predicts that burnups of ∼74 MWd/kg U and ∼163 MWd/kg U (or ∼65.2 MWd/kg U oxide-equivalent) could be achieved for UO₂ and UZrH_x fuels, respectively. Furthermore, for each fuel type, changing the enrichment has only a negligible effect on the permissible burnup. The oxide rod performance is limited by internal pressure due to fission gas release, while the hydride fuel can be limited by excessive clad deformation in tension due to fuel swelling, unless the fuel rods will be designed to have a wider liquid metal filled gap. The analysis also indicates that designs featuring a relatively large number of fuel rods of relatively small diameters can achieve maximum burnup and provide maximum core power density because they allow the fuel rods to operate at moderate to low linear heat rates.     

Thermal-hydraulic analysis techniques for axisymmetric pebble bed reactor cores

A mathematical model for the analysis of coupled thermal-hydraulic problemsin steady-state pebble bed nuclear reactor cores is presented. The bed has been treated macroscopically as a generating, conducting porous medium. The model uses a nonlinear Forchheimer-type relation between the coolant pressure gradient and mass flux, and new coefficients of the viscous and inertial loss terms are presented. The remaining equations in the model make use of continuity and thermal energy balances on the solid and fluid phases. None of the usual simplifying assumptions such as constant properties, constant velocity flow or negligible conduction and/or radiation are used. A computer program based on this model has been constructed; it has been validated by comparing predictions with measured values of previous experiments. Validation of the nonlinear fluid flow model is reported in a companion paper.     

Neutronic analysis of hydride fueled PWR cores

The neutronic properties of U-ZrH_1.6 fuelled PWR cores are investigated and compared against those of the currently used UO₂ fuelled cores. In the first part of this work a parametric study is performed to quantify the neutronically achievable burnup for both hydride and oxide fuels at a number of enrichment levels and for a large number of geometries covering a wide design space of fuel rod outer diameter, D, and lattice pitch, P. The fuel temperature and coolant temperature reactivity coefficients as well as the small and large void reactivity coefficients are calculated for hydride fuel with 5% and 12.5% enriched uranium. For this purpose a simplified procedure was developed that can, using single unit cell or assembly calculations, (1) account for non-linear burnup dependent k_∞ and thus to adequately predict the discharge burnup; (2) estimate the burnup dependent soluble boron concentration and; (3) estimate the reactivity coefficients; all of the above for a multi-batch core. In the second part of this work a detailed neutronic analysis is carried out for the six most economical geometries of both oxide and hydride fuels, with the purpose of designing the U-ZrH_1.6 fueled PWR cores to have negative reactivity coefficients. The preferred design found is replacement of 25 ^v/_o of the ZrH_1.6 by thorium hydride, along with addition of some IFBA burnable poison. It is also found that the conversion from oxide to hydride fueled PWR cores could be done without modifications in the control system.     

非能动安全壳冷却系统热工水力单项试验

非能动安全壳冷却系统热工水力单项试验研究是先进压水堆关键技术研究项目.本试验利用德国Karlsruhe研究中心的PASCO试验装置,并对其进行改造,主要研究事故工况下非能动安全壳环形空腔内传热传质机理,包括于平板传热试验、加热平板蒸发传热试验、辐射传热试验,从而获得不同温度、环腔尺寸、表面黑度、喷淋流量对流动及传热的影响,验证相关模型及为设计提供参考.     

CPR1000压水堆本体结构热工水力特性CFD模拟研究

为在有限计算资源和时间下得到反应堆本体的流场分布和各组件的受力等热工水力特性,采用等流通截面积方法简化了控制棒导向筒内部几何结构,通过多孔介质模型对堆芯燃料组件结构进行了简化,在此基础上建立了CPR1000压水堆本体结构的整体CFD分析模型,得到反应堆内流场特性和各组件的受力等热工水力特性。计算结果表明,堆内流场不具备对称性,进行整体CFD模型建立和分析是非常必要,所建立的CPR1000整体CFD模型计算得到的热工水力特性合理,可为CPR1000压水堆安全运行提供有效的参考数据。     

Plutonium recycling in hydride fueled PWR cores

The classic approach to the recycling of Pu in PWR is to use mixed U-oxide Pu-oxide (MOX) fuel. The mono-recycling of plutonium in PWR transmutes less than 30% of the loaded plutonium, providing only a limited reduction in the long-term radiotoxicity and in the inventory of TRU to be stored in the repository. The primary objective of this study is to assess the feasibility of plutonium recycling in PWR in the form of plutonium hydride, PuH₂, mixed with uranium and zirconium hydride, ZrH_1.6, referred to as PUZH, that is loaded uniformly in each fuel rod. The assessment is performed by comparing the performance of the PUZH fueled core to that of the MOX fueled core. Performance characteristics examined are transmutation effectiveness, proliferation resistance of the discharged fuel and fuel cycle economics. The PUZH loaded core is found superior to the MOX fueled core in terms of the transmutation effectiveness and proliferation resistance. For the reference cycle duration and reference fuel rod diameter and pitch, the percentage of the plutonium loaded that is transmuted in one recycle is 53% for PUZH versus 29% for MOX fuel. That is, the net amount of plutonium transmuted in the first recycle is 55% higher in cores using PUZH than in cores using MOX fuel. Relative to the discharged MOX, the discharged PUZH fuel has smaller fissile plutonium fraction - 45% versus 60%, 15% smaller minor actinides (MA) inventory and more than double spontaneous fission neutron source intensity and decay heat per gram of discharged TRU. Relative to the MOX fuel assembly, the radioactivity of the PUZH fuel assembly is 26% smaller and the decay heat and the neutron yield are only 3% larger. The net effect is that the handling of the discharged PUZH fuel assembly will be comparable in difficulty to that of the discharged MOX assembly while the proliferation resistance of the TRU of the discharged PUZH fuel is enhanced.     

Three-dimensional transport coefficient model and prediction-correction numerical method for thermal margin analysis of PWR cores

Combustion Engineering Inc. designs its modern PWR reactor cores using open-core thermal-hydraulic methods where the mass, momentum and energy equations are solved in three dimensions (one axial and two lateral directions). The resultant fluid properties are used to compute the minimum Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio (DNBR) which utlimately sets the power capability of the core. The on-line digital monitoring and protection systems require a small fast-running algorithm of the design code. This paper presents two techniques used in the development of the on-line DNB algorithmFirst, a three-dimensional transport coefficient model is introduced to radially group the flow subchannel into channels for the thermal-hydraulic fluid properties calculation. Conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy for these channels are derived using transport coefficients to modify the calculation of the radial transport of enthalpy and momentum.Second, a simplified, non-iterative numerical method, called the prediction-correction method, is applied together with the transport coefficient model to reduce the computer execution time in the determination of fluid properties.Comparison of the algorithm and the design thermal-hydraulic code shows agreement to within 0.65% equivalent power at a 95/95 confidence/probability level for all normal operating conditions of the PWR core. This algorithm accuracy is achieved with 1/800th of the computer processing time of its parent design code.     

Thermal-hydraulic analysis on the effect of operator action in the loss of shutdown cooling system accident in a PWR

It is necessary to develop PSA methodology and integrated accident management technology during low power/shutdown operations. To develop this technology, thermal-hydraulic analysis is necessarily required to access the trend of plant process parameters and operator's grace time after initiation of the accident. In this study, the thermal-hydraulic behavior in the loss of shutdown cooling system accident during low power/shutdown operations at the Korean standard nuclear power plant was analyzed using the best-estimate thermal-hydraulic analysis code, MARS2.1. The effects of operator's action and initiation of accident mitigation system, such as safety injection and gravity feed on mitigation of the accident during shutdown operations are also analyzed.When steam generators are unavailable or vent paths with large cross-sectional area are open in the accident, the core damage occurs earlier than the cases of steam generators available or vent paths with small cross-sectional area. If an operator takes an action to mitigate the accident, the accident can be mitigated considerably. To mitigate the accident, high-pressure safety injection is more effective in POS4B and gravity feed is more effective in POS5. The results of this study can contribute to the plant safety improvement because those can provide the time for an operator to take an action to mitigate the accident by providing quantitative time of core damage. The results of this study can also provide information in developing operating procedure and accident management technology.     

Thermal-hydraulic modeling for the analysis of LMFBR disrupted core behavior

This paper presents the analytical models of thermal-hydraulic phenomena of major interest in the analysis of LMFBR hypothetical core disruptive accidents. These models have been incorporated in LEVITATE [1], a code for the analysis of fuel and cladding dynamics under loss of Flow (LOF) conditions. LEVITATE has recently become part of the SAS4A [2] code system, replacing the older, less sophisticated SLUMPY [3] model.The influence of different thermal-hydraulic models on fuel motion is illustrated by a comparison between the results calculated by LEVITATE, the data from the L7 and L6 TREAT experiments [4] and the results calculated by SLUMPY. The results calculated by LEVITATE are in good agreement with the experimentally observed early fuel dispersal.     

Thermal-hydraulic calculations using MARS code applied to low power and shutdown probabilistic safety assessment in a PWR

The methods developed for full-power probabilistic safety assessment, including thermal-hydraulic methods, have been widely applied to low power and shutdown conditions. Experience from current low power and shutdown probabilistic safety assessments, however, indicates that the thermal-hydraulic methods developed for full-power probabilistic safety assessments are not always reliable when applied to low power and shutdown conditions and consequently may yield misleading and inaccurate risk insights. To increase the usefulness of the low power and shutdown risk insights, the current methods and tools used for thermal-hydraulic calculations should be examined to ascertain whether they function effectively for low power and shutdown conditions. In this study, a platform for relatively detailed thermal-hydraulic calculations applied to low power and shutdown conditions in a pressurized water reactor was developed based on the best estimate thermal-hydraulic analysis code, MARS2.1. To confirm the applicability of the MARS platform to low power and shutdown conditions, many thermal-hydraulic analyses were performed for the selected topic, i.e. the loss of shutdown cooling events for various plant operating states at the Korean standard nuclear power plant. The platform developed in this study can deal effectively with low power and shutdown conditions, as well as assist the accident sequence analysis in low power and shutdown probabilistic safety assessments by providing fundamental data. Consequently, the resulting analyses may yield more realistic and accurate low power and shutdown risk insights.     

中国ITER固态实验包层模块热工水力优化设计和分析

在中国氦冷固态增殖剂实验包层模块(CH HCSB TBM)热工水力优化设计的基础上,利用有限元程序ANSYS和计算流体力学程序FLUENT对实验包层模块进行了相应的分析.分析结果表明热工水力优化是合理的,是可以接受的.     

Transient thermal-hydraulic analysis for reactor cores

A new computational method is presented for a transient, thermal-hydraulic, multichannel analysis. The method is developed based on the concept of artificial compressibility to preserve the elliptic character of the reactor core flow in order to satisfy the realistic pressure boundary conditions, and to account for the discontinuities of the emprical correlations simulating the flow resistances. The computer code (RETSAC) developed by implementing the method presented in this paper can be categorized as a fourth generation multichannel computer code. This new computer code has been compared with the widely used marching techniques, such as COBRA IIIC (the third generation). The numerical results clearly indicate the situations in which the marching technique may or may not be appropriate. Furthermore, the RETSAC computer code can calculate various normal or off-normal reactor core flows which the third generation codes could not handle without a substantial increase of computer time.     

压水堆吊篮下部防断支承组件流致振动分析

对秦山核电厂堆芯下腔流场、堆内下部防断支承组件振动特性及全组件的流致振动进行了分析,特别对旋涡脱落致振进行了定量分析.分析结果表明防断支承组件初始结构的整体转动振动的固有频率与旋涡脱落频率相差较大,发生大幅振动的可能性不大;只有当部分连接件松动,整体结构转动振动的固有频率下降时,才很有可能发生大幅振动.     

聚变驱动次临界堆双冷嬗变包层热工水力学参数设计与分析

聚变驱动次临界堆双冷嬗变包层是一个以氦气和液态金属LiPb为冷却剂,以嬗变核废料为主要目的的多功能包层。依据功率平衡模型对不同工况优化的基础上,对该包层热工系统参数进行了设计分析。采用三维商用计算流体力学程序对第一壁和高功率密度区中液态LiPb的流场进行数值模拟计算,给出了优化的典型热工水力参数。     

螺旋管式直流蒸汽发生器热工水力分析模型

基于混合流模型的质量、动量和能量守恒方程,采用可移动边界法建立了压水堆螺旋管式直流蒸汽发生器的稳态和动态分析模型。模型将二次侧传热区域分为预热段、蒸发段和过热段,且考虑了缺液区传热。通过对国际革新与安全反应堆(IRIS)螺旋管式直流蒸汽发生器的模拟,对模型进行了验证。结果表明,本文所建立的稳态和动态模型合理,稳态计算结果与设计值符合良好,动态仿真符合热工水力学及其定性机理分析结果。     

Distributed resistance modeling of wire-wrapped rod bundles

Three-dimensional flow hydrodynamic distributed resistance models for rod bundles were developed. The models specifically account for the presence of the wire-wrap spacer and may be used for any lumped parameter thermohydraulic analysis numerical program. Validation studies of the hydrodynamic resistance models were also performed using a subchannel code ASFRE. The models were tested against subchannel velocity and temperature data taken from bundles of triangular rod array configurations with wire-spacers. Overall the models performed satisfactorily predicting the most important qualitative trends for flows in wire-wrapped rod bundles.     

Calculation of the ex-core neutron noise induced by individual fuel assembly vibrations in two PWR cores

Calculation of the neutron noise induced by fuel assembly vibrations in two pressurized water reactor(PWR) cores has been conducted to investigate the effect of cycle burnup on the properties of the ex-core detector noise. An extension of the method and the computational models of a previous work have been applied to two different PWR cores to examine a hypothesis that fuel assembly vibrations cause the corresponding peak in the auto power spectral density(APSD) increase during the cycle. Stochastic vibrations along a random two-dimensional trajectory of individual fuel assemblies were assumed to occur at different locations in the cores. Two models regarding the displacement amplitude of the vibrating assembly have been considered to determine the noise source. Then, the APSD of the ex-core detector noise was evaluated at three burnup steps. The results show that there is no monotonic tendency of the change in the APSD of ex-core detector; however, the increase in APSD occurs predominantly for peripheral assemblies. When assuming simultaneous vibrations of a number of fuel assemblies uniformly distributed over the core, the effect of the peripheral assemblies dominates the ex-core neutron noise.This behaviour was found similar in both cores.     

Hydraulic characteristics of wire-wrapped rod bundles

Existing hydraulic data such as pressure fields, velocity fields, friction factors, flow split and sweeping flows were reviewed and summarized. In addition equations were suggested to calculate subchannel friction factors, flow split and flow sweeping. It was concluded that sufficient data and analysis exist to generate a complete physical model to characterize turbulent flow in wire-wrapped rod bundles; there are inadequate data to construct a physical model to describe laminar and natural circulation flow. Potential hydraulic problems related to rod bundle dimensional tolerances, non-nominal and/or time-dependent pressure drop characteristics should be resolved.     

Thermal-hydraulic characteristics of pressurized water reactors during commercial operation: VII. Thermal-hydraulics of the PWR Paluel 1 steam generator during commercial operation

Downcomer fluid velocity, shell, fluid, and tube sheet temperature, and feedwater distributions across the cold and hot legs of Paluel 1 steam generator No. 81 are measured as a function of load. The results indicate that swirling motion in the downcomer is negligible compared with results reported earlier for the PWRs Bugey 4 and Tricastin 1. Overall circulation ratio and saturation pressure decrease almost linearly with increasing load. Carry- under and carryover are found negligible at all loads. A nonuniformly drilled feedwater ring distributes 80% of the feedwater onto the hot leg and 20% onto the cold leg. The combination of hydrocyclonic steam-water separator dryer design and nonuniformly drilled feedwater ring is successful in retaining a high percentage ( 70%) of the rather pure (compared with recirculation water) feedwater at tube sheet level across the hot leg, even at full load. Consequently, chemical quality, and turbidity level of secondary water above the tube sheet in the hot leg is found superior to that in the cold leg.