Highly-detailed neutronic and thermal-hydraulic coupled calculations for OPAL reactor using diverse codes and approaches

IF 1.9 3区工程技术 Q1 NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Nuclear Engineering and Design Pub Date : 2024-09-12 DOI:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2024.113579

Diego Ferraro , Ignacio Ferrari , Alicia Doval , Eduardo Villarino , Basar Ozar

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Abstract

The industry-standard approach for designing and operating research reactors cores relies on well-established methodologies that consider uncoupled neutronic calculations and a subchannel analysis of the Thermal-Hydraulic (TH) associated problem. Advancements in computing power and codes allow detailed multiphysics approaches to be implemented, thereby reducing conservatism. In this study, a comparative analysis of results from diverse detailed neutronic-TH coupled core approaches is developed. To address a realistic application case, the comparison is made for a reported critical configuration from the Open Pool Australian Lightwater research reactor (OPAL) at Hot Full Power (HFP) and low burnup. Both cell-core and stochastic methodologies for neutronics are evaluated, whereas two different subchannel codes are considered for TH. The convergence of the coupled schemes, and the consistency of the main parameters are discussed, showing the compatibility of the alternative methods and their ability to offer critical insights not captured by standard practices.

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使用不同的代码和方法对 OPAL 反应堆进行高度详细的中子和热液耦合计算

设计和运行研究堆堆芯的行业标准方法依赖于考虑非耦合中子计算和热-水（TH）相关问题的子通道分析的成熟方法。计算能力和代码的进步使得详细的多物理场方法得以实施，从而减少了保守性。在本研究中，对各种详细的中子-热-水耦合核心方法的结果进行了比较分析。为了解决一个现实的应用案例，我们针对澳大利亚开式水池轻水研究堆（OPAL）在热满功率（HFP）和低燃耗条件下报告的临界构型进行了比较。对中子学的单元核心和随机方法都进行了评估，而对 TH 则考虑了两种不同的子通道代码。对耦合方案的收敛性和主要参数的一致性进行了讨论，显示了替代方法的兼容性及其提供标准实践未捕捉到的重要见解的能力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Nuclear Engineering and Design 工程技术-核科学技术

CiteScore

3.40

自引率

11.80%

发文量

377

审稿时长

5 months

期刊介绍： Nuclear Engineering and Design covers the wide range of disciplines involved in the engineering, design, safety and construction of nuclear fission reactors. The Editors welcome papers both on applied and innovative aspects and developments in nuclear science and technology. Fundamentals of Reactor Design include: • Thermal-Hydraulics and Core Physics • Safety Analysis, Risk Assessment (PSA) • Structural and Mechanical Engineering • Materials Science • Fuel Behavior and Design • Structural Plant Design • Engineering of Reactor Components • Experiments Aspects beyond fundamentals of Reactor Design covered: • Accident Mitigation Measures • Reactor Control Systems • Licensing Issues • Safeguard Engineering • Economy of Plants • Reprocessing / Waste Disposal • Applications of Nuclear Energy • Maintenance • Decommissioning Papers on new reactor ideas and developments (Generation IV reactors) such as inherently safe modular HTRs, High Performance LWRs/HWRs and LMFBs/GFR will be considered; Actinide Burners, Accelerator Driven Systems, Energy Amplifiers and other special designs of power and research reactors and their applications are also encouraged.