Differences in the Heat Transfer at the Core-Reflector Boundary of the PBMR Due to the Use of Different Numerical Methods

Abstract

The PBMR (Pebble Bed Modular Reactor) is a High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) concept. One of the exercises of the PBMR benchmark of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a steady state two-dimensional (2D) thermal-hydraulics simulation of a simplified PBMR with prescribed heat sources. Two different programs were used to model this exercise. They predicted similar core temperatures but the side reflector temperatures next to the core differed by more than 30 °C (when using a relatively coarse mesh). The underlying methods define temperatures at either vertices (VC) or at mesh cell centres (CC). A study was undertaken using one-dimensional (1D) implementations of the VC and CC methods to model a horizontal slice through the core. This study revealed the root cause of the different predictions. A modified version of the 1D CC method was developed that essentially predicts the same temperatures as the VC method. The extension of the modified method to two dimensions is under investigation. If the difference in predicted temperatures next to the core can be eliminated or reduced, then the focus can shift to other differences between the results of the two programs.