Abstract
Purpose – To present dynamical analysis of axisymmetric and three-dimensional (3D) simulations of a nuclear fluidized bed reactor. Also to determine the root cause of reactor power fluctuations.
Design/methodology/approach – We have used a coupled neutron radiation (in full phase space) and high resolution multiphase gas-solid Eulerian-Eulerian model.
Findings – The reactor can take over 5?min after start up to establish a quasi-steady-state and the mechanism for the long term oscillations of power have been established as a heat loss/generation mechanism. There is a clear need to parameterize the temperature of the reactor and, therefore, its power output for a given fissile mass or reactivity. The fission-power fluctuates by an order of magnitude with a frequency of 0.5-2?Hz. However, the thermal power output from gases is fairly steady.
Research limitation/implications – The applications demonstrate that a simple surrogate of a complex model of a nuclear fluidised bed can have a predictive ability and has similar statistics to the more complex model.
Practical implications – This work can be used to analyze chaotic systems and also how the power is sensitive to fluctuations in key regions of the reactor.
Originality/value – The work presents the first 3D model of a nuclear fluidised bed reactor and demonstrates the value of numerical methods for modelling new and existing nuclear reactors.
Design/methodology/approach – We have used a coupled neutron radiation (in full phase space) and high resolution multiphase gas-solid Eulerian-Eulerian model.
Findings – The reactor can take over 5?min after start up to establish a quasi-steady-state and the mechanism for the long term oscillations of power have been established as a heat loss/generation mechanism. There is a clear need to parameterize the temperature of the reactor and, therefore, its power output for a given fissile mass or reactivity. The fission-power fluctuates by an order of magnitude with a frequency of 0.5-2?Hz. However, the thermal power output from gases is fairly steady.
Research limitation/implications – The applications demonstrate that a simple surrogate of a complex model of a nuclear fluidised bed can have a predictive ability and has similar statistics to the more complex model.
Practical implications – This work can be used to analyze chaotic systems and also how the power is sensitive to fluctuations in key regions of the reactor.
Originality/value – The work presents the first 3D model of a nuclear fluidised bed reactor and demonstrates the value of numerical methods for modelling new and existing nuclear reactors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 765-807 |
| Number of pages | 43 |
| Journal | International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2005 |
Keywords
- flow
- heat transfer
- nuclear reactors
- numerical analysis