Cross-scale coupling analysis method for OTSG in SFR and its application

Abstract

The once-through steam generators (OTSG) in sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) are characterized by full-regime flow boiling heat transfer, coupled heat transfer on both sides and complex structure with a large dimensional span. This makes the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and 3D refinement modeling methods to analyze the 3D temperature field of OTSG containing large-scale heat transfer tube bundles generally face the problems of high computational difficulty, low solution efficiency and poor solution stability. In this paper, based on the full-regime flow boiling heat transfer model and the flow pattern discrimination model, a one-dimensional full-regime flow boiling heat transfer model from subcooled water to superheated steam on the water side (tube side) and its cross-scale coupling solution model with the three-dimensional refined CFD model on the sodium side (shell side) are established. The effectiveness of the coupling analysis model was verified by comparative analysis with experimental data of the Indian 19-tube Steam Generator Test Facility (SGTF). The independent coupling of the water side of each heat transfer tube in the OTSG with the sodium side 3D fluid domain is realized. The results show that the cross-scale coupling method using the one-dimensional full-regime flow boiling heat transfer model for the water side and the three-dimensional CFD model for the sodium side can accurately predict the temperature distribution, the main heat transfer characteristic points on the full height of each heat transfer tube, and can obtain the temperature difference between different heat transfer tubes and tube walls. The maximum error between the calculated results and experimental data for the distribution of sodium temperature along the axial direction of the tubes is less than 3%. The cross-scale coupled solution method avoids the direct adoption of the three-dimensional multiphase flow model, which significantly improves the efficiency and stability of the solution of the three-dimensional temperature field of OTSG. This study provides an efficient 3D refinement numerical analysis method for the design and safety verification of OTSG.