Estimation of fuel and clad temperature of a research reactor during dry period of de-fuelling operation

Abstract

Heat transfer and fluid flow studies related to spent fuel bundle of a research reactor in fuelling machine has been carried out. When the fuel is in reactor core, the heat generated in the fuel bundle is removed by heavy water under normal reactor operation. However, during the de-fuelling operation, the fuel bundle is exposed to air for some period called dry period. During this period, the decay heat from fuel bundle has to be removed by air flow. This flow of air is induced by natural convection only. In this period, the temperatures of fuel and clad rise. If clad temperature rises beyond a certain limit, structural failure may occur. This failure can result into release of fission products from fuel rod. Hence the temperature of clad has to be within specified limit under all conditions. The objective of this study is to estimate the clad temperature rise during the dry period. In the CFD simulation, the turbulent natural convection flow over fuel and radiation heat transfer are accounted. Standard k– ɛ model for turbulence, Boussinesq approximation for computing the natural convection flow and IMMERSOL model for radiation are used. The steady state and transient CFD simulation of flow and heat is performed, using the CFD code PHOENICS. The steady state analysis provides the maximum temperature the clad will attain if fuel bundle is left exposed to air for sufficiently long time. For safe operation, the clad temperature should be limited to a specified value. From steady state CFD analysis, it is found that steady state clad temperature for various decay powers is higher than the limiting value. Hence transient analysis is also performed. In the transient analysis, the variation of clad temperature with time is predicted for various decay powers. Safe dry time, i.e. the time required for clad to reach the limiting value, is predicted for various decay powers. Determination of safe dry time helps in deciding the time available to the operator to drop the bundle in light water pool for storage. The analysis is found useful in optimizing the de-fuelling process.