Experimental and numerical study on thermal-hydraulic characteristics of water-cooled fuel assembly irradiation device for HFETR

IF 3.2 3区工程技术 Q1 NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Progress in Nuclear Energy Pub Date : 2025-09-10 DOI:10.1016/j.pnucene.2025.106035

Liangqian Fu , Xufeng He , Shaojie Tan , Songbai Cheng , Ruifeng Tian

{"title":"Experimental and numerical study on thermal-hydraulic characteristics of water-cooled fuel assembly irradiation device for HFETR","authors":"Liangqian Fu , Xufeng He , Shaojie Tan , Songbai Cheng , Ruifeng Tian","doi":"10.1016/j.pnucene.2025.106035","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper, in order to study the thermal-hydraulic behavior of fuel assembly irradiation device in HFETR (High-Flux Engineering Test Reactor), a fuel assembly irradiation device simulator with narrow channels and slit was developed. The thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the fuel assembly irradiation device was experimentally and numerically investigated. In the experiment, under the benchmarking high and low flow conditions, the overall heat leakage rate of the device is 1.54 % and 0.38 %, respectively, indicating that the thermal insulation performance of the experimental device is good. Under the two flow conditions, the corresponding total pressure drop in the experimental body is about 38 kPa and 11 kPa, respectively. Compared with the experiment, the maximum experimental body pressure drop error of the calculated results is 9.58 %. The calculated results show that there is a drastic exchange of velocities between the fluids during the movement of the fluid in the downcomer section. The flow velocity inside the slit channel is larger than that in the slit inlet and outlet area, and the velocity gradient at the slit outlet is larger. The existence of the slit makes a part of the fluid enter the outflow channel of the electric heating section, accounting for 2.4 %. The fluid mixing effect of the square box in the device is obvious, which is conducive to the flow distribution of the fluid into the heating channel. These findings provide critical insights for the design optimization of nuclear fuel irradiation devices in HFETR, particularly offering direct guidance for temperature measurement point arrangement, enhancing the thermal-hydraulic parameter measurement accuracy, and optimizing the narrow-channel flow control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20617,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Nuclear Energy","volume":"191 ","pages":"Article 106035"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Progress in Nuclear Energy","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149197025004330","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

In this paper, in order to study the thermal-hydraulic behavior of fuel assembly irradiation device in HFETR (High-Flux Engineering Test Reactor), a fuel assembly irradiation device simulator with narrow channels and slit was developed. The thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the fuel assembly irradiation device was experimentally and numerically investigated. In the experiment, under the benchmarking high and low flow conditions, the overall heat leakage rate of the device is 1.54 % and 0.38 %, respectively, indicating that the thermal insulation performance of the experimental device is good. Under the two flow conditions, the corresponding total pressure drop in the experimental body is about 38 kPa and 11 kPa, respectively. Compared with the experiment, the maximum experimental body pressure drop error of the calculated results is 9.58 %. The calculated results show that there is a drastic exchange of velocities between the fluids during the movement of the fluid in the downcomer section. The flow velocity inside the slit channel is larger than that in the slit inlet and outlet area, and the velocity gradient at the slit outlet is larger. The existence of the slit makes a part of the fluid enter the outflow channel of the electric heating section, accounting for 2.4 %. The fluid mixing effect of the square box in the device is obvious, which is conducive to the flow distribution of the fluid into the heating channel. These findings provide critical insights for the design optimization of nuclear fuel irradiation devices in HFETR, particularly offering direct guidance for temperature measurement point arrangement, enhancing the thermal-hydraulic parameter measurement accuracy, and optimizing the narrow-channel flow control.

查看原文本刊更多论文

高通量堆水冷燃料组件辐照装置热水力特性的实验与数值研究

为了研究高通量工程试验堆（HFETR）燃料组件辐照装置的热工性能，研制了窄通道狭缝燃料组件辐照装置模拟器。对燃料组件辐照装置的热工特性进行了实验和数值研究。实验中，在基准高、低流量工况下，装置的整体漏热率分别为1.54%和0.38%，说明实验装置的保温性能良好。在这两种流动条件下，实验体内相应的总压降分别约为38 kPa和11 kPa。与实验结果比较，计算结果的最大实验体压降误差为9.58%。计算结果表明，在降速段流体运动过程中，流体之间存在剧烈的速度交换。狭缝通道内的流速大于狭缝入口和出口区域的流速，且狭缝出口的流速梯度较大。狭缝的存在使一部分流体进入电加热段的流出通道，占2.4%。装置内方形箱的流体混合效果明显，有利于流体进入加热通道的流动分布。这些研究结果对HFETR核燃料辐照装置的优化设计具有重要意义，特别是对温度测点布置、提高热工参数测量精度和优化窄通道流量控制具有直接指导意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Progress in Nuclear Energy 工程技术-核科学技术

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

14.80%

发文量

331

审稿时长

3.5 months

期刊介绍： Progress in Nuclear Energy is an international review journal covering all aspects of nuclear science and engineering. In keeping with the maturity of nuclear power, articles on safety, siting and environmental problems are encouraged, as are those associated with economics and fuel management. However, basic physics and engineering will remain an important aspect of the editorial policy. Articles published are either of a review nature or present new material in more depth. They are aimed at researchers and technically-oriented managers working in the nuclear energy field. Please note the following: 1) PNE seeks high quality research papers which are medium to long in length. Short research papers should be submitted to the journal Annals in Nuclear Energy. 2) PNE reserves the right to reject papers which are based solely on routine application of computer codes used to produce reactor designs or explain existing reactor phenomena. Such papers, although worthy, are best left as laboratory reports whereas Progress in Nuclear Energy seeks papers of originality, which are archival in nature, in the fields of mathematical and experimental nuclear technology, including fission, fusion (blanket physics, radiation damage), safety, materials aspects, economics, etc. 3) Review papers, which may occasionally be invited, are particularly sought by the journal in these fields.