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Title: Direct numerical simulation of reactor two-phase flows enabled by high-performance computing

Journal Article · · Nuclear Engineering and Design
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2]
  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
  2. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)
  3. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Nuclear reactor two-phase flows remain a great engineering challenge, where the high-resolution two-phase flow database which can inform practical model development is still sparse due to the extreme reactor operation conditions and measurement difficulties. Owing to the rapid growth of computing power, the direct numerical simulation (DNS) is enjoying a renewed interest in investigating the related flow problems. A combination between DNS and an interface tracking method can provide a unique opportunity to study two-phase flows based on first principles calculations. More importantly, state-of-the-art high-performance computing (HPC) facilities are helping unlock this great potential. This paper reviews the recent research progress of two-phase flow DNS related to reactor applications. The progress in large-scale bubbly flow DNS has been focused not only on the sheer size of those simulations in terms of resolved Reynolds number, but also on the associated advanced modeling and analysis techniques. Specifically, the current areas of active research include modeling of sub-cooled boiling, bubble coalescence, as well as the advanced post-processing toolkit for bubbly flow simulations in reactor geometries. A novel bubble tracking method has been developed to track the evolution of bubbles in two-phase bubbly flow. Also, spectral analysis of DNS database in different geometries has been performed to investigate the modulation of the energy spectrum slope due to bubble-induced turbulence. In addition, the single-and two-phase analysis results are presented for turbulent flows within the pressurized water reactor (PWR) core geometries. The related simulations are possible to carry out only with the world leading HPC platforms. Furthermore, these simulations are allowing more complex turbulence model development and validation for use in 3D multiphase computational fluid dynamics (M-CFD) codes.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Consortium for Advanced Simulation of LIght Water Reactors (CASL); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1434327
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1548540
Journal Information:
Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 330, Issue C; ISSN 0029-5493
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 30 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Interface-Resolved Simulations of Reactor Flows journal June 2019
Interface Tracking Investigation of Geometric Effects on the Bubbly Flow in PWR Subchannels journal August 2018

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Related Subjects

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
Bubble Tracking Method
DNS
Interface Tracking Method
Two-phase Flow