A multiphysics simulation suite for liquid metal-cooled fast reactors

Abstract

A new multiphysics simulation suite has been created to model Liquid Metal-cooled Fast Reactors (LMFRs). LUPINE: “LMFR Utility for Physics Informed Nuclear Engineering” is based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) and employs a general, unstructured mesh to solve the Simplified PN (SPN) neutron transport equations and multiphysics models to simulate thermal hydraulics and thermal expansion. Results of validation benchmarks are presented using the SPN solver and runtime results indicate that the SPN solver scales well for increasing SPN truncation order. To demonstrate the multiphysics coupling capabilities of LUPINE, the Advanced Burner Reactor (ABR) MET-1000 benchmark is modeled using coupled neutronics, thermal hydraulics, and thermal expansion models. It is shown that the SP3 method is sufficient to model the SPN effects in the ABR. The multiphysics models are showcased by calculating several multiphysics reactivity coefficients including: power defect, thermal expansion coefficient, Doppler coefficient, and Coolant Temperature Coefficient (CTC).