High-fidelity forced convection simulations of the University of Wisconsin–Madison air-cooled reactor cavity cooling system

Okyay, Sinan; Reger, David Alan; Leite, Victor Coppo; Merzari, Elia; Balestra, Paolo; Strydom, Gerhard

doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2025.114388

High-fidelity forced convection simulations of the University of Wisconsin–Madison air-cooled reactor cavity cooling system

Journal Article · Wed Sep 17 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Nuclear Engineering and Design

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2025.114388· OSTI ID:3017273

^[1]; Reger, David Alan ^[2]; Leite, Victor Coppo ^[2]; Merzari, Elia ^[3]; Balestra, Paolo ^[2]; ^[2]

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

Among the various types of advanced nuclear technologies that exist, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) stand out for their co-generation capabilities and exceptional passive safety systems. HTGRs rely on a reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS) to remove decay heat from the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) during the course of long-term transients. Several studies have focused on experimental and numerical modeling of the RCCS; however, the literature reveals a notable gap when it comes to high-fidelity simulations such as direct numerical simulations (DNS) or large eddy simulation (LES) models of the RCCS. An LES model was developed for forced convection inside the RCCS so as to obtain a high-fidelity representation of the RCCS at a scale never before attempted. Furthermore, the LES model was compared against three different Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models (Realizable k − ϵ, k − ω SST, and Reynolds stress model [RSM]). This comparison verified the robustness and accuracy of the turbulence modeling approach of the RANS models for the RCCS. Finally, based on the comparison between the LES and the RANS models, the k − ω SST RANS model of the experimental facility was developed and compared against the available experimental data.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE); USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 3017273

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU--25-86875

Journal Information:: Nuclear Engineering and Design, Journal Name: Nuclear Engineering and Design Journal Issue: 0 Vol. 445; ISSN 0029-5493

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (24)

Turbulence modeling of natural convection in enclosures: A review Choi, Seok-Ki; Kim, Seong-O Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, Vol. 26, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-011-1037-0	journal	January 2012
The velocity and temperature distribution in one-dimensional flow with turbulence augmentation and pressure gradient Wolfshtein, M. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 12, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0017-9310(69)90012-X	journal	March 1969
Improved natural convection heat transfer correlations for reactor cavity cooling systems of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors: From computational fluid dynamics to Pronghorn Freile, Ramiro; Tano, Mauricio; Balestra, Paolo Annals of Nuclear Energy, Vol. 163 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2021.108547	journal	December 2021
Coupled Monte Carlo and thermal-fluid modeling of high temperature gas reactors using Cardinal Novak, A. J.; Andrs, D.; Shriwise, P. Annals of Nuclear Energy, Vol. 177 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109310	journal	November 2022
Ambient and building condition effects modeling of air-cooled natural circulation systems Hu, Rui; Lisowski, Darius D.; Bucknor, Matthew D. Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 137 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.03.046	journal	June 2018
Local flow structure and turbulence quantities inside a heated rectangular riser in turbulent forced and mixed convection heat transfers Kim, Sin-Yeob; Kim, Chan-Soo; Cho, Hyoung Kyu Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, Vol. 122 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2020.110297	journal	April 2021
Recent progress in the development of the Elliptic Blending Reynolds-stress model Manceau, Rémi International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, Vol. 51 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2014.09.002	journal	February 2015
Experimental analysis on mixed convection in reactor cavity cooling system of HTGR for hydrogen production Shin, Dong-Ho; Kim, Chan Soo; Park, Goon-Cherl International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 42, Issue 34 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.232	journal	August 2017
A pressure correction scheme for generalized form of energy-stable open boundary conditions for incompressible flows Dong, S.; Shen, J. Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 291 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2015.03.012	journal	June 2015
Loss-of-cooling tests to verify inherent safety feature in the world’s first HTR-PM nuclear power plant Zhang, Zuoyi; Dong, Yujie; Li, Fu Joule, Vol. 8, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.06.014	journal	July 2024
Scaling analysis of PMR200 reactor cavity cooling system Bae, Yoon-Yeong; Hong, Sung-Deok; Kim, Yong-Wan Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 271 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2013.12.027	journal	May 2014
Code-to-code comparison for analysing the steady-state heat transfer and natural circulation in an air-cooled RCCS using GAMMA+ and Flownex Rousseau, P. G.; du Toit, C. G.; Jun, J. S. Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 291 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2015.05.004	journal	September 2015
Experimental observations of natural circulation flow in the NSTF Lisowski, Darius D.; Kraus, Adam R.; Bucknor, Matthew D. Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 306 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2016.01.014	journal	September 2016
Comparative study with two reduced test facilities for air-cooled RCCS scaling law Kim, Chan Soo; Lisowski, Darius; Bae, Yoon Yeong Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 380 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111276	journal	August 2021
Investigation into different 1D/3D co-simulation methodologies applied to a natural circulation loop Koekemoer, O. C.; du Toit, C. G.; Niemand, P. F. Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 390 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2022.111698	journal	April 2022
NekRS, a GPU-accelerated spectral element Navier–Stokes solver Fischer, Paul; Kerkemeier, Stefan; Min, Misun Parallel Computing, Vol. 114 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parco.2022.102982	journal	December 2022
A Reynolds stress model for near-wall turbulence Durbin, P. A. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 249, Issue -1 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112093001259	journal	April 1993
Testing the feasibility of multi-modular design in an HTR-PM nuclear plant Dong, Zhe; Zhang, Zuoyi; Dong, Yujie Nature Communications, Vol. 16, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58194-7	journal	March 2025
Elliptic blending model: A new near-wall Reynolds-stress turbulence closure Manceau, Rémi; Hanjalić, Kemal Physics of Fluids, Vol. 14, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1432693	journal	February 2002
Design considerations and experimental observations for the TAMU air-cooled reactor cavity cooling system for the VHTR Sulaiman, S. A.; Dominguez-Ontiveros, E. E.; Alhashimi, T. AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4916850	conference	January 2015
Energy Exascale Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations With the Spectral Element Method Merzari, Elia; Coppo Leite, Victor; Fang, Jun Journal of Fluids Engineering, Vol. 146, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4064659	journal	February 2024
Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Very High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor Cavity Cooling System Frisani, Angelo; Hassan, Yassin A.; Ugaz, Victor M. Nuclear Technology, Vol. 176, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A13299	journal	November 2011
Investigation of Rotating Flows with Separation Using the Elliptic-Blending Reynolds-Stress Model Manceau, Remi Proceeding of Ninth International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena https://doi.org/10.1615/TSFP9.790	conference	January 2015
Two-equation eddy-viscosity turbulence models for engineering applications Menter, F. R. AIAA Journal, Vol. 32, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.2514/3.12149	journal	August 1994

Similar Records

Improved natural convection heat transfer correlations for reactor cavity cooling systems of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors: From computational fluid dynamics to Pronghorn

Journal Article · Wed Jul 21 20:00:00 EDT 2021 · Annals of Nuclear Energy · OSTI ID:1908193

High Fidelity Simulations of Air-Cooled Reactor Cavity Cooling System

Conference · Mon May 06 20:00:00 EDT 2024 · OSTI ID:2370042

High Fidelity Simulations of Air-Cooled Reactor Cavity Cooling System

Program Document · Mon Jun 03 20:00:00 EDT 2024 · OSTI ID:2382760

Related Subjects

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
Forced convection
High Fidelity
LES
NekRS
RCCS
STAR-CCM+

High-fidelity forced convection simulations of the University of Wisconsin–Madison air-cooled reactor cavity cooling system

Citation Formats

References (24)

Similar Records

Related Subjects