Mechanistic CHF modeling for natural circulation applications in SMR

Abstract

A mechanistic critical heat flux correlation has been developed for a wide range of operating conditions which include low mass fluxes of 540–890kg/m2-s, high pressures of 12–13MPa, and critical heat fluxes of 835–1100kW/m2. Eleven experimental data points have been collected over these conditions to inform the development of the model using bundle geometry. Errors of within 15% have been obtained with the proposed model for predicting the critical heat flux value, location, and critical pin power for a non-uniform heat flux applied to a 2×2 bundle configuration.