Numerical Study of Coolant Mixing Caused by the Flow Deflectors in a Nuclear Fuel Bundle
- Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (Korea, Republic of)
A numerical study was conducted to investigate the nuclear fuel assembly coolant flow mixing that is promoted by the flow deflectors on the grid spacer. Four typical flow deflectors (split vane, side-supported vane, swirl vane, and twisted vane) were chosen for this study. A single subchannel of one grid span is modeled using the flow symmetry. The predicted axial and lateral mean flow velocities, and the turbulent kinetic energy in the subchannel for the split-vane design, are in good agreement with the experimental results.The split vane and the twisted vane generate a large cross flow between the subchannels and a skewed elliptic swirling flow in the subchannel near the grid spacer. The cross flow rapidly decreases and the swirling flow becomes dominant downstream of the spacer. The side-supported vane induces a horizontally elongated elliptic swirl in the subchannel and a secondary flow in the near downstream of the spacer. The swirl vane produces a circular swirling flow in the subchannel and a negligible cross flow. For the twisted-vane and side-supported vane designs, the change in direction of the cross flow was predicted. The average turbulent kinetic energy in the subchannel sharply increases near the spacer and rapidly decreases to a fully developed level. In summary, the numerical results showed a somewhat large difference from the experimental results near the spacer but represented the overall characteristics of coolant mixing well in a nuclear fuel bundle with the flow deflectors on the grid spacer.
- OSTI ID:
- 20822269
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 134; ISSN 0029-5450; ISSN NUTYBB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Structure of Turbulent Flow in Subchannel of Rod Bundle Downstream of Spacer Grid With Hybrid Flow Mixing Device
Investigation of Swirling Flow in Rod Bundle Subchannels Using Computational Fluid Dynamics
Hydraulic performance evaluation of rod bundle with a concept spacer grid design
Conference
·
Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2002
·
OSTI ID:21072897
Investigation of Swirling Flow in Rod Bundle Subchannels Using Computational Fluid Dynamics
Conference
·
Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2006
·
OSTI ID:20995475
Hydraulic performance evaluation of rod bundle with a concept spacer grid design
Conference
·
Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016
·
OSTI ID:22750125