Development of an object-oriented, thermal-hydraulics model for ARC FLiBe loop safety assessment

Abstract

The development of new fusion reactor concepts is a challenging task for designers and safety analysts. Little information is usually available from previous experiences or experimental campaigns, especially when the design is innovative. Hence, system modeling is of fundamental importance. A proper system model should allow the investigation of different design options, and a preliminary assessment of the relative safety features. Anticipated or accidental transients can be studied, exploring the design space and highlighting possible criticalities. Object-oriented modeling is extremely advantageous to carry out this task. ARC pre-conceptual design (MIT-PSFC) may greatly benefit from this kind of analysis. A 1-D system-level, thermal-hydraulics model of ARC FLiBe loop developed in Modelica language is presented in this work. Because of the innovative nature of ARC design, most of the components are not available in the Modelica standard library. Thus, the key components of the loop are defined and modeled. No experimental results are currently available for model validation; therefore, the model consistency is assessed by verification and benchmark against analytical and numerical models. A Python wrapper is developed to explore multiple transient conditions by automating pre-processing and post-processing. Component failures are injected in the thermal-hydraulics model by a Monte Carlo routine. It is found that the model can efficiently describe different transients, with a low error on key parameters (pressure drop, fluid temperature). Furthermore, the model can be easily adapted to different design, thanks to the modular structure of object-oriented models. Similarly, it can be implemented in broader applications for safety analysis by coupling with suitable soft computing techniques.