CFD Evaluation of Pressure Change Along Coolant Passages in Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor with Nek5000

Fang, Jun; Yu, Yiqi; Yuan, Haomin; Merzari, Elia; Shaver, Dillon R.

doi:10.1080/00295450.2021.1957373

CFD Evaluation of Pressure Change Along Coolant Passages in Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor with Nek5000

Journal Article · Fri Oct 08 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Nuclear Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1957373· OSTI ID:1885048

^[1]; Yu, Yiqi ^[1]; Yuan, Haomin ^[1]; Merzari, Elia ^[2]; ^[1]

Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

To support the design efforts of advanced sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs), a series of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed to investigate the pressure change along various flow passages in the proposed SFR system. The simulations are carried out with the state-of-the-art spectral element flow solver, Nek5000. Two specific case studies are presented in this paper: the flow exiting the axial neutron reflector channels and the flow entering the fuel pin bundle. Due to the high Reynolds numbers expected, a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach is necessary to model the turbulence. A newly developed regularized k-omega RANS model is adopted in the related CFD calculations. The first case study explores the effect of Reynolds number on the pressure change when flow exits the reflector channels. The pressure change in this case has two major contributors: the change due to wall friction and the Bernoulli effect. It is noted that the nondimensional pressure loss follows a log-linear trend up to Re = 10⁵, and then the trend is flattened. In the second case study, the advanced NekNek coupling capability is tested where an integral domain can be divided into multiple subdomains with coupling interfaces, which would greatly ease the meshing process of complex engineering geometries and potentially save computational resources. The preliminary results obtained so far confirm the consistency between the NekNek results and those produced by regular Nek5000 simulation. The presented work demonstrates the readiness and flexibility of the related CFD techniques, which is part of the broader effort to leverage cutting-edge CFD to inform the advanced nuclear reactor designs.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1885048

Journal Information:: Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 208; ISSN 0029-5450

Publisher:: Taylor & Francis - formerly American Nuclear Society (ANS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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