Characterisation of metal combustion with DUST code

Abstract

The code DUST is a CFD code developed by the Technical University of Cartagena, Spain and the Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Security, France (IRSN) with the objective to assess the dust explosion hazard in the vacuum vessel of ITER. Thus, DUST code permits the analysis of dust spatial distribution, remobilisation and entrainment, explosion, and combustion. Some assumptions such as particle incompressibility and negligible effect of pressure on the solid phase make the model quite appealing from the mathematical point of view, as the systems of equations that characterise the behaviour of the solid and gaseous phases are decoupled. The objective of this work is to present the model implemented in the code to characterise metal combustion. In order to evaluate its ability analysing reactive mixtures of multicomponent gases and multicomponent solids, two combustion problems are studied, namely H2/N2/O2/C and H2/N2/O2/W mixtures. The system of equations considered and finite volume approach are briefly presented. The closure relationships used are commented and special attention is paid to the reaction rate correlations used in the model. The numerical results are compared with those obtained experimentally at the IRSN/CNRS facility in Orleans. They are commented and some conclusions are finally drawn.