CFD simulation of the IAEA 10 MW generic MTR reactor under loss of flow transient

Abstract

Three-dimensional simulation of the IAEA 10 MW generic reactor under loss of flow transient is introduced using the CFD code, Fluent. The IAEA reactor calculation is a safety-related benchmark problem for an idealized material testing reactor (MTR) pool type specified in order to compare calculational methods used in various research centers. The flow transients considered include fast loss of flow accidents (FLOFA) and slow loss of flow accidents (SLOFA) modeled with exponential flow decay and time constants of 1 and 25 s, respectively. The transients were initiated from a power of 12 MW with a flow trip point at 85% nominal flow and a 200 ms time delay. The simulation shows comparable results as those published by other research groups. However, interesting 3D patterns are shown that are usually lost based on the one-dimensional simulations that other research groups have introduced. In addition, information about the maximum clad surface temperature, the maximum fuel element temperature as well as the location of hot spots in fuel channel is also reported.