Coupled Monte Carlo-CFD analysis of heat transfer phenomena in a supercritical water reactor fuel assembly

Abstract

In this paper coupled calculations with the CFD code ANSYS-CFX-19.0 and the Monte Carlo neutronics code MCNP6 were performed to analyze the heat transfer in supercritical water flowing through the typical fuel assembly of the high-performance light water reactor (HPLWR), in order to improve the characterization of the heat transfer phenomena in supercritical water under non-uniform axial heat flux distributions that is characteristic of this type of reactor. To check the capability of the CFX model to predict the thermal-hydraulic behavior of supercritical water, the computational results were compared with two experimental data. The Shitsmańs experiment in the presence of heat transfer deterioration (HTD) using four low-Re turbulence models (SST, k-ω, BSL-k-ω, and ω-Reynolds Stress) and the Wanǵs experiment in absence of HTD, using the low-Re-SST and the scalable-wall-function-SSG turbulence models. In the presence of the HTD phenomenon, results showed the high dependency of the wall temperature with the turbulence model and the turbulent Prandtl number selected. In the absence of HTD, both turbulence models studied adequately predicted the behavior of the wall temperature distribution.For the coupled neutronic/thermal-hydraulic analysis of the typical HPLWR fuel assembly, the low-Re SST turbulence model and the Prt = 1.5 were used. Different axial profiles of heat flux generated in the fuel rods were obtained for the different power values studied. For the analyzed conditions, the presence of HTD in the lower zone of the fuel assembly was observed. In addition, the results showed a strong non-uniformity of the circumferential surface cladding temperature distribution in the sub-channel located at the corner of the fuel assembly; a new curvature radius of the assembly box corner was proposed to obtain a well homogenized circumferential wall temperature distribution.