ICONE15-10026 Status of the INL Gas Reactor Test System Experiment Facility

Abstract

The Gas Reactor Test System (GRTS) is an experiment facility for examining the thermal hydraulic performance of the Generation IV, Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) during a Large-Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LB-LOCA). The LB-LOCA is defined as the double guillotine break of the VHTR coaxial inlet and outlet cross duct. Two system safety codes, MELCOR and RELAP5-3D were used to calculate core temperatures and flow rates during the LB-LOCA transient. Computational fluid dynamics modeling of the transient produced flow vectors and gas species distribution. The most important phenomenon during the transient is the lock-exchange process, which suppresses the onset of natural circulation until considerable molecular diffusion has occurred. The GRTS was designed based upon a hierarchical two tier scaling analysis whose primary objective was replicating the lock-exchange and natural circulation characteristics of the VHTR. The GRTS uses a scaled graphite core to represent the VHTR's graphite core. An in-depth scaling analysis was performed for the GRTS in order to ensure that it accurately simulated the VHTR thermal responses. RELAP5-3D thermal analyses, ProEngineer stress analyses, and combined FLUENT - STARCD CFD analyses have provided a system design that fulfills the GRTS mission statement. This paper discusses the design analyses and their implications on the GRTS capabilities. A discussion is also presented on the preliminary instrumentation plan. The GRTS will provide an extensive temperature map of the VHTR core outlet plenum and its core support, oxygen transport rates during the lock-exchange phenomenon, and thermal conduction rates from the core to the vessel. As a result of the GRTS using helium coolant at 950 C, the resulting experiment data is expected to considerably extend the U.S. database for high-temperature gas reactor operations. Finally, the discussion will present conclusions from the GRTS manufacturing and quality control processes that may benefit the VHTR design.