Large eddy simulation on thermal striping of liquid lead-bismuth eutectic in parallel five-jet

Abstract

Thermal striping in the upper plenum of the lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) is a temperature fluctuation phenomenon caused by the mixing of two non-isothermal fluids, and can lead to high cycle thermal fatigue and cracks in adjacent structures. Quantitative study of thermal striping is of great significance for the safe operation of reactors. This paper studies the thermal striping phenomena of lead-bismuth eutectic in a parallel five-jet plenum based on large eddy simulation. The parametric effects on characteristics of temperature fluctuation in terms of its statistics and flow structures are focused on, including the effects of temperature differences and velocity ratios. The results show that the temperature difference and velocity ratio significantly affect the flow patterns of thermal and flow fields, as well as the statistical characteristics of thermal striping. Under isovelocity conditions, the flow pattern of fluids is symmetric, whereas it is affected by velocity ratio in non-isovelocity scenarios. With isovelocity, increasing temperature difference raises the average temperature, heat flux and temperature fluctuation intensity. For non-isovelocity conditions, higher velocity ratios reduce average temperature but increase heat flux, with temperature fluctuation intensity showing an initial increase followed by a decrease. Spectral analysis indicates that the temperature difference primarily increases the temperature fluctuation amplitudes (the dominant frequency stabilized at about 5 Hz). Conversely, increasing velocity ratio decreases the amplitude and raises the dominant frequency. These findings provide valuable insights for understanding the mechanism of thermal striping of liquid lead-bismuth eutectic.