Heat transfer study in one eighth of the high performance supercritical water-cooled reactor fuel assembly

Abstract

The high-performance light-water nuclear reactor is the European version of the supercritical water-cooled reactor, proposed as one of the candidates for Generation IV of nuclear reactors. This paper assesses the ability to predict the heat transfer behavior to supercritical water in the sub-channels of the 1/8 HPLWR fuel assembly by codes of Computational Fluid Dynamics using two models of turbulence (the Reynolds stress model developed by Speziale and the k-ω shear stress transport model). A mesh sensitivity study was performed to guarantee the independence of the numerical results regardless the size and distribution of the mesh elements. Temperature distributions were calculated in the fuel rods, in the clad, and in water both in the cooling zone and moderator zone. The results of the two turbulence models were compared. No appreciable difference was obtained in the values of the supercritical water average temperature calculated with the turbulence models used. However, the numerical results using the SST turbulence model show higher values regarding the temperature of both fuel rods and clad surface compared to those calculated with the SSG model.

Keywords

• flujo turbulento
• transferencia de calor
• reactores vrefrigerados por agua
• simulación computarizada
• evaluaciones comparativas