Simulation of strong turbulent buoyant flow in a vented complex enclosure

Abstract

A three-dimensional field model for turbulent flow in an arbitrary compartment, taking into account strong buoyancy, full compressibility, turbulence, surface-surface radiation exchange, and wall heat losses is utilized to simulate a full-scale fire test in a fire room with open doorways located in a decommissioned nuclear reactor containment vessel in Germany. Results show that reasonable agreement in the numerical and test data in the unsteady temperature field at three locations inside the fire room was obtained, even though the numerical simulation underestimated the doorway instantaneous exit velocities by as much as 40%. The discrepancies are discussed in terms of both test uncertainties and adequacy of the physical submodels utilized in the field model.