Numerical simulation of subcooled flow boiling for nuclear engineering applications using OpenFOAM
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Zhi Yang
and
Joachim Herb
Abstract
This work is focused on the development and validation of models and methods for the simulation of wall boiling in nuclear engineering applications with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code OpenFOAM. The new chtMultiRegionReactingTwoPhaseEulerFoam solver was developed based on the reactingTwoPhaseEulerFoam solver of OpenFOAM Foundation version 7. The solver is used for the simulation of two-phase flow under consideration of wall boiling and conjugate heat transfer (CHT) between solid structure and two-phase fluid regions. The Euler–Euler approach for two-phase flows was used. The heat flux during wall boiling was calculated with the help of the extended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute wall heat flux partitioning model, in which the convective heat flux between solid wall and two-phase flow with high void fractions was also considered. The solver was validated against experimental data from the OECD/NEA PWR Subchannel and Bundle Tests benchmark. This Nuclear Power Energy Corporation (NUPEC) database provides data for different fuel assembly subchannel geometries at different thermal-hydraulic conditions. 10 experimental runs with different boundary conditions of the benchmark exercise I-1 were simulated with the chtMultiRegionReactingTwoPhaseEulerFoam solver. The solver showed good numerical stability in all examined cases, which captured different boiling regimes with up to cross-section averaged void fractions of 0.6. The results were compared with measured data for the averaged over the cross-section of the investigated geometry void fractions. Good agreement with experimental data was observed.
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Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
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Research funding: This work has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology within reactor safety research project RS 1566: “CFD investigations of multiphysical phenomena within the framework of the safety assessment of existing reactor plants” and the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection based on decisions by the German Bundestag.
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- The 33rd German CFD Network of Competence Meeting: 20 years of advances in the numerical 3D simulation of reactor relevant flows
- Sustainable development of simulation setups and addons for OpenFOAM for nuclear reactor safety research
- Numerical investigations of flow in nuclear fuel assembly with spacer grid and OpenFOAM validation
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- Numerical simulation of subcooled flow boiling for nuclear engineering applications using OpenFOAM
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- Events
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- The 33rd German CFD Network of Competence Meeting: 20 years of advances in the numerical 3D simulation of reactor relevant flows
- Sustainable development of simulation setups and addons for OpenFOAM for nuclear reactor safety research
- Numerical investigations of flow in nuclear fuel assembly with spacer grid and OpenFOAM validation
- GRS contributions to flow-induced vibrations related activities in Europe
- Numerical simulation of subcooled flow boiling for nuclear engineering applications using OpenFOAM
- Model of terminal debris bed formation after a CANDU core collapse
- Weibull model for RUL estimation at RSG-GAS reactor implemented on PA01-AP01 secondary pump
- Study of the effect of virtual mass force on two-phase critical flow
- Using TRACE to establish the analysis model of Kuosheng nuclear power plant for decommissioning transition phase
- Post-LOCA control room dose analysis for Maanshan NPP using the AST methodology
- Lithium–lithium fusion evaporation research
- Study on the accidents analyses of a single channel for XADS by using MPC-LBE code
- Events
