Development and validation of transient Thermal-Hydraulic model for SFR steam generators

Abstract

The steam generator (SG) is an important component in sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs). It transfers the heat from sodium systems to the balance of plant (BOP), producing steam for electricity production. Any disturbances originating from the BOP propagate to the nuclear systems through SG. Hence, it is especially important to model and predict the thermal–hydraulic behavior of SG during such transients. Towards this, a thermal–hydraulic model of SG of a typical medium-sized SFR has been developed using general-purpose system simulation code – FLOWNEX. Usually, the moving boundary method is used to model SGs as it involves phase change and multiple heat transfer regimes. However, in the current model, the fixed mesh approach, generally used for modeling pipelines, single-phase heat exchangers, etc. in plant dynamic codes, has been used to model SGs. In this paper, the modeling details and the solution procedures used in the FLOWNEX are discussed in detail. The steady-state results of the model developed have been compared with the results from in-house code DESOPT. The results were in good agreement at various power levels as well as in off-design conditions. The transient performance of the model has been validated against an in-house experiment carried out in Steam Generator Test Facility (SGTF), IGCAR, India, and a steam generator shutdown experiment carried out in Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), USA. The transient results were also in good agreement, thereby increasing the confidence level of the predictions. The model developed will be integrated to plant dynamic codes containing other system models and will be used to carry out system-level simulations in the future.