2-D CFD time-dependent thermal-hydraulic simulations of CANDU-6 moderator flows

Abstract

The distribution of the fluid temperature and mass density of the moderator flow in CANDU-6 nuclear power reactors may affect the reactivity coefficient. For this reason, any possible moderator flow configuration and consequently the corresponding temperature distributions must be studied. In particular, the variations of the reactivity may result in major safety issues. For instance, excessive temperature excursions in the vicinity of the calandria tubes nearby local flow stagnation zones, may bring about partial boiling. Moreover, steady-state simulations have shown that for operating condition, intense buoyancy forces may be dominant, which can trigger a thermal stratification. Therefore, the numerical study of the time-dependent flow transition to such a condition, is of fundamental safety concern. Within this framework, this paper presents detailed time-dependent numerical simulations of CANDU-6 moderator flow for a wide range of flow conditions. To get a better insight of the thermal-hydraulic phenomena, the simulations were performed by covering long physical-time periods using an open-source code (Code_Saturne V3) developed by Électricité de France. The results show not only a region where the flow is characterized by coherent structures of flow fluctuations but also the existence of two limit cases where fluid oscillations disappear almost completely.