CFD Simulation of Single Phase Mixing in a 4x4 Rod Bundle with Different Spacers

Enhancing heat transfer between fuel rods and coolant is one of the main goals of nuclear engineering. Spacer grids equipped with mixing vanes are placed inside nuclear fuel assemblies to enhance the lateral velocities of the flow inside the sub-channels and, also, increase the lateral mixing betwee...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Santolaria Pérez, Lluís
Tipo de recurso: tesis de maestría
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/169134
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/169134
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:dinàmica de fluids
Nuclear energy
Energia nuclear
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies::Energia nuclear
Descripción
Sumario:Enhancing heat transfer between fuel rods and coolant is one of the main goals of nuclear engineering. Spacer grids equipped with mixing vanes are placed inside nuclear fuel assemblies to enhance the lateral velocities of the flow inside the sub-channels and, also, increase the lateral mixing between different sub-channels and, consequently, the heat transfer. For the design and analysis of these spacer grids, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools, able to compute flow structures taking into account effects such as wall friction, turbulent mixing or heat transfer, are commonly used. In this project, CFD methodologies have been developed to simulate flow field inside bare rod bundle and bundles equipped with 4 types of spacers, testing different mesh strategies and turbulence models. Behaviour of different methodologies are studied and results are compared against experimental data, and promising options are identified.