Computational fluid dynamic analysis of core bypass flow phenomena in a prismatic VHTR

The core bypass flow in a prismatic very high temperature reactor (VHTR) is an important design consideration and can have considerable impact on the condition of reactor core internals including fuels. The interstitial gaps are an inherent presence in the reactor core because of tolerances in manufacturing the blocks and the inexact nature of their installation. Furthermore, the geometry of the graphite blocks changes over the lifetime of the reactor because of thermal expansion and irradiation damage. The occurrence of hot spots in the core and lower plenum and hot streaking in the lower plenum (regions of very hot gas flow) are affected by bypass flow.     

Feasibility neutronic design for the reactor core configurations of a 5 MWth transportable block-type HTR

Small long-life transportable high temperature gas-cooled reactors(HTRs) are interesting because they can safely provide electricity or heat in remote areas or to industrial users in developed or developing countries.This paper presents the neutronic design of the U-Battery,which is a 5 MWth block-type HTR with a fuel lifetime of 5–10 years.Assuming a reactor pressure vessel diameter of less than 3.7 m,some possible reactor core configurations of the 5 MWth U-Battery have been investigated using the TRITON module in SCALE 6.The neutronic analysis shows that Layout 12×2B,a scattering core containing 2 layers of 12 fuel blocks each with 20% enriched235U,reaches a fuel lifetime of 10 effective full power years(EFPYs).When the diameter of the reactor pressure vessel is reduced to 1.8 m,a fuel lifetime of 4 EFPYs will be achieved for the 5 MWth U-Battery with a 25-cm thick graphite side reflector.Layouts 6×3 and 6×4 with a 25-cm thick BeO side reflector achieve a fuel lifetime of 7 and 10 EFPYs,respectively.The comparison of the different core configurations shows that,keeping the number of fuel blocks in the reactor core constant,the annular and scattering core configurations have longer fuel lifetimes and lower fuel cost than the cylindrical ones.Moreover,for the 5 MWth U-Battery,reducing the fuel inventory in the reactor core by decreasing the diameter of fuel kernels and packing fraction of TRISO particles is more effective to lower the fuel cost than decreasing the 235U enrichment.     

Quantification of the toughness distribution in a heavy section submerged arc multilayer reactor pressure vessel weldment

In a working procedure qualification test weld representing a heavy section circumferential reactor pressure vessel (RPV) weld tested in 1968, lower toughness values were observed in the top layer region compared to those found in the filler region. Gleeble simulation, extensive microscopic evaluation, diligent Charpy V-notch testing and modelling of the bead sequence and distribution of alloying elements was applied to explain this effect. It could be revealed that the microstructure of the weld metal is the most important factor influencing the toughness. When an ‘as welded’ microstructure is partly or fully reaustenitised by the adjacent multilayer beads, the microstructure transforms and the toughness increases. In the filler region, 85% of the cross-section consists from transformed microstructure, whereas in the top layer only 20% are transformed. It is quite evident that, accidentally, the notch tip of Charpy samples in 1968 were placed in untransformed microstructures. When the top layer on the inner surface of the RPV is weld cladded by austenitic stainless steel, full transformation occurs and the toughness representing the filler region can be taken into account for safety evaluations.     

Design approach of the ARIES-AT power core and vacuum vessel cost assessment

The complexity of fusion power plants require the integration of many diverse and important system requirements to achieve a design approach that is viewed as a commercially viable electric plant. The ARIES-AT power core design builds upon a history of fusion power core designs that evolve along with physics and engineering advances. The baseline design point is optimized for maximum performance and minimum capital cost based upon the ARIES systems code results, along with physics and engineering analyses. The ARIES-AT power core is designed to be quick and easily maintainable to achieve high plant availability. A key element to achieve the high availability is the integration of the core elements with the design of the vacuum vessel. The vacuum vessel design is developed in more detail to assure the key assembly and maintenance features could be realized at an affordable cost.     

Evaluation of the influence of bypass flow gap distribution on the core hot spot in a prismatic VHTR core

Core bypass flow in VHTR is one of the key issues for core thermal margins and efficiency. The bypass flow in the prismatic core varies during core cycles due to the irradiation shrinkage/swelling and thermal expansion of the graphite blocks. A procedure to evaluate the local gap size variation between graphite blocks was developed and applied to a prismatic core VHTR. The influence of the core restraint mechanism on the bypass flow gap was evaluated. The predicted gap size is as much as 8 mm when the graphite block is exposed to its allowable limit of fast neutron fluence. The analysis for the core bypass flow and hot spot was carried out based on the calculated gap distributions. The results indicate that the bypass gap and flow distributions are closely related to the local hot spot and its location and the core restraint mechanism preventing outward movement of the graphite block by a fastening device reduces the bypass gap size, which results in the decrease of maximum fuel temperature not less than 100 °C, when compared to the case without it.     

混合能谱超临界水堆堆芯设计分析

提出了一种新型的超临界水堆概念设计:混合能谱超临界水堆,它包括慢谱区和快谱区两部分.其慢谱区燃料组件采用双排燃料组件,快谱区采用简单的正方形栅元燃料组件.慢谱区与快谱区的燃料组件都采用同向流动方式来简化堆芯设计.慢谱区的冷却剂出口温度远低于整个堆芯的出口温度,这大大降低了慢谱区包壳的温度峰值.此外,由于快谱区冷却剂密度很小,流速很高,故可采用较大的栅元结构,这有效地降低了包壳周向局部传热不均匀性.所以混合堆在充分继承慢谱、快谱堆芯优点的基础上,弥补两者的不足.     

Design of structural components for the helical reactor FFHR-d1A

FFHR-d1 is a conceptual design of the helical reactor being developed at the National Institute for Fusion Science. The maintenance of in-vessel components is very important for the fusion demo reactor. In addition, sufficient pathways are needed for the divertor exhaust. To implement these, the vacuum vessel, coil support structure, and cryostat require large apertures. However, the coil support structure has to be sufficiently rigid to remain within soundness and deformation limits. A design combining the structural components in the FFHR-d1A was developed from mechanical and thermal viewpoints. Consequently, components having a sufficiently large port area were provided. An investigation of the maintenance and exhaust schemes has been planned on the basis of this fundamental design.     

Modelling of heat and mass transfer processes during core melt discharge from a reactor pressure vessel

The objective of this paper is to study the heat and mass trasnfer processes related to core melt discharge from a reactor vessel in a light water reactor severe accident. The phenomenology modelled includes the convection in, and heat transfer from, the melt pool in contact with the vessel lower head wall, the fluid dynamics and heat transfer of the melt flow in the growing discharge hole and multi-dimensional heat conduction in the ablating lower head wall. A research programme is underway at the Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, KTH) to (1) identify the dominant heat and mass transfer processes determining the characteristics of the lower head ablation process: (2) develop and validate efficient analytical/computational models for these processes; (3) apply models to assess the character of the melt discharge process in a reactor-scale situation; (4) determine the sensitivity of the melt discharge to structural differences and variations in the in-vessel melt progression scenarios. The paper also presents a comparison with recent results of vessel hole ablation experiments conducted at KTH with a melt simulant.     

基于GDT的聚变裂变混合堆堆芯参数初步设计研究

基于Gas Dynamic Trap(GDT)装置的实验进展,提出了用于驱动聚变裂变混合堆包层的聚变堆芯参数设计。基于零维堆芯物理模型,计算分析给出了一套聚变功率为50MW的初步堆芯参数方案。利用GDT装置的实验结果对该物理模型进行计算对比校验,显示该物理模型和设计参数的可靠性。     

MCNP程序在反应堆堆芯建模中的应用

用MCNP程序对清华大学试验核反应堆一号堆芯进行了建模,计算了正常棒位下的Keff值,计算结果与参考值吻合较好;提出了用MCNP进行反应堆堆芯建模的一般步骤和方法,此步骤和方法对研究其他各种反应堆堆芯的建模具有参考价值.     

A separate effect test on the cooling behavior in a pressurized water reactor core under a low reflooding rate condition by using ATLAS and RELAP5/MOD3.3 code assessment

A separate effect test was performed on the cooling behavior in a PWR core under a low reflooding rate condition by using the ATLAS (Advanced Thermal–Hydraulic Test Loop for Accident Simulation) which is a thermal–hydraulic integral effect test facility for the pressurized water reactors APR1400 and OPR1000. Although several integral tests for the reflood phase of a large break loss of coolant accident (LBLOCA) of APR1400 have been performed with the ATLAS, the previous integral effect tests for the reflood phase of a LBLOCA are not easily simulated by existing codes, such as the RELAP5/MOD3, due to a unique phenomena in ATLAS, that resulted from an injection of large amount of subcooled water onto the heated wall of which temperature was higher than the target value.     

CPR1000核反应堆压力容器保温层安装技术改进

通过对安装技术的进一步探讨,将压力容器筒体保温层施工所需要的9个工作日从压力容器安装的27个工作日中移出去,使其不再是“核岛安装三级计划”中关键路径上的工作,从而使整个核岛安装工期得到优化。同时,使压力容器简体保温层安装更安全、更可靠。     

Design evaluation of emergency core cooling systems using Axiomatic Design

In designing nuclear power plants (NPPs), the evaluation of safety is one of the important issues. As a measure for evaluating safety, this paper proposes a methodology to examine the design process of emergency core cooling systems (ECCSs) in NPPs using Axiomatic Design (AD). This is particularly important for identifying vulnerabilities and creating solutions. Korean Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MWe (APR1400) adopted the ECCS, which was improved to meet the stronger safety regulations than that of the current Optimized Power Reactor 1000 MWe (OPR1000). To improve the performance and safety of the ECCS, the various design strategies such as independency or redundancy were implemented, and their effectiveness was confirmed by calculating core damage frequency. We suggest an alternative viewpoint of evaluating the deployment of design strategies in terms of AD methodology. AD suggests two design principles and the visualization tools for organizing design process. The important benefit of AD is that it is capable of providing suitable priorities for deploying design strategies. The reverse engineering driven by AD has been able to show that the design process of the ECCS of APR1400 was improved in comparison to that of OPR1000 from the viewpoint of the coordination of design strategies.     

Reactor core design optimization of the 200 MWt Pb–Bi cooled fast reactor for hydrogen production

In this study reactor core geometrical optimization of 200 MWt Pb–Bi cooled long life fast reactor for hydrogen production has been conducted. The reactor life time is 20 years and the fuel type is UN-PuN. Geometrical core configurations considered in this study are balance, pancake and tall cylindrical cores. For the hydrogen production unit we adopt steam membrane reforming hydrogen gas production. The optimum operating temperature for the catalytic reaction is 540 °C. Fast reactor design optimization calculation was run by using FI-ITB-CHI software package. The design criteria were restricted by the multiplication factor that should be less than 1.002, the average outlet coolant temperature 550 °C and the maximum coolant outlet temperature less than 700 °C. By taking into account of the hydrogen production as well as corrosion resulting from Pb–Bi, the balance cylindrical geometrical core design with diameter and height of the active core of 157 cm each, the inlet coolant temperature of 350 °C and the coolant flow rate of 7000 kg/s were preferred as the best design parameters.     

Integrated design of prestressed cast-iron pressure vessel and passive heat removal system for the reactor cell of a 200 MWth modular reactor

For a modular reactor of 200 MW thermal output an inactive after heat removal system has been designed. It consists of a prestressed cast iron pressure vessel with the surrounding reactor cell. Integrated in the cast iron profiles of the reactor cell is a redundant water cooling system based on natural convection. Air cooling towers are provided to cool the water down to ambient temperature. The cooling system covers a wide range of possible wall temperatures without significant changes in water temperature. The structures of the reactor pressure vessel and the cell, their assembly and some results of the engineering work done up to now are described in this paper.     

堆芯温度分布对压力容器液位测量影响分析

对堆芯温度不均匀分布而导致CPR1000核电站堆芯冷却监测系统CCMS压力容器液位测量误差进行了量化计算。结果表明,停堆后主泵保持运行,由该物理现象引入的误差可以忽略。对失去全部给水情形下引入较大的高估误差,结合状态导向法事故运行程序SOP,对该误差对操纵员安全重要操作的影响进行了分析。     

ITER中国液态锂铅实验包层模块氦气冷却系统初步设计研究

氦气冷却系统是ITER中国液态锂铅实验包层模块(DFLL-TBM)在ITER装置内进行实验的重要辅助系统.根据ITER运行时的热工条件、安全要求、空间要求,分析了DFLL-TBM氦气冷却系统的功能,确定氦气冷却系统的设计原则和要求,在此基础上给出氦气冷却系统的初步设计方案和设备布置.该氦气系统的特点体现在:双功能,即有宽的裕量满足SLL-TBM和DLL-TBM实验;两条氦气回路共享压力控制单元和氦气净化子系统;旁路设计调节TBM和热交换器氦气的出口温度.     

Preliminary tests of particle image velocimetry for the upper plenum of a scaled model of a very high temperature gas cooled reactor

The Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) is a Generation IV nuclear reactor that is currently under design. During the design process multiple studies have been performed to develop safety codes for the reactor. Two major accidents of interest are the Pressurized Conduction Cooldown (PCC), and the Depressurized Conduction Cooldown (DCC) scenario. Both involve loss of forced coolant to the core, except the latter involves a pressure loss in the main coolant loop. During normal operation a circulator pumps the coolant into the upper plenum and down through the core, but following a loss of forced coolant the natural convection causes the flow to reverse to go through the core into the upper plenum. Computer codes may be developed to simulate the phenomenon that occurs in a PCC or DCC scenario, but benchmark data is needed to validate the simulations; previously there were no experimental test facilities to provide this. This study will cover the design, construction, and preliminary testing of a 1/16th scaled model of a VHTR that uses Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) for flow visualization in the upper plenum. Three tests were run for a partially heated core at statistically steady state, and PIV was used to generate the velocity field of three naturally convective adjacent jets; the turbulent mixing of the jets was observed. After performing a sensitivity analysis the flow rate of a single pipe was extracted from the PIV flow field, and compared with an ultrasonic flowmeter and analytic flow rate. All the values lied within the uncertainty ranges, validating the test results.     

Assessment of the MARS code for design of water pool-type reactor cavity cooling system in HTGR

This paper reports an experimental and numerical study on the assessment of the MARS code as a tool for analyzing the water pool-type reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS), which was developed by Seoul National University (SNU). A series of experiments were performed to determine the heat removal capability of the proposed RCCS and assess the capability of MARS code to predict the forced convective, natural convective and radiative heat transfer under normal operation conditions and boiling heat transfer during accident conditions in the RCCS. In the loss of forced convection (LOFC) accident experiment performed at the integral effect test facility called RCCS-SNU, the MARS code underestimated the vapor generation rate at the inner wall of the water pool. Therefore, the newly developed models of the bubble departure and lift-off diameters were implemented into the MARS code to make a better prediction of the vapor generation rate. The improved MARS code was assessed again using the experimental data of the LOFC accident conditions in the RCCS-SNU facility.