Experimental and Numerical Study of Stagnant Zones in Pebble Bed

The experimental method (side area method) and DEM simulation have been carried out to analyse the stagnant zone in the quasi-two-dimensional silos. The side area method is a phenomenological method by means of investigating the interface features of different areas composed of different coloured pe...

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Main Authors: Xinlong Jia, Xingtuan Yang, Nan Gui, Yu Li, Jiyuan Tu, Shengyao Jiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/120640
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author Xinlong Jia
Xingtuan Yang
Nan Gui
Yu Li
Jiyuan Tu
Shengyao Jiang
author_facet Xinlong Jia
Xingtuan Yang
Nan Gui
Yu Li
Jiyuan Tu
Shengyao Jiang
author_sort Xinlong Jia
collection DOAJ
description The experimental method (side area method) and DEM simulation have been carried out to analyse the stagnant zone in the quasi-two-dimensional silos. The side area method is a phenomenological method by means of investigating the interface features of different areas composed of different coloured pebbles. Two methods have been discussed to define the stagnant zone. In particular, the area of the stagnant zone has been calculated with the mean-streamline method, and the tracking time of different marking pebbles has been investigated with the stagnant time method to explore the kinematics characteristics of the pebbles. The stagnant zone is crucial for the safety of the pebble-bed reactor, and the practical reactor core must avoid the existence of the stagnant zone. Furthermore, this paper also analyses the effects of bed configuration (the bed height, the base angle, and the friction coefficient) on stagnant zone with the two methods mentioned above. In detail, the bed height shows little impact on the stagnant zones when the bed height exceeds a certain limit, while the base angle has negative prominent correlation with the stagnant zone. The friction coefficient effect seems complicated and presents the great nonlinearity, which deserves to be deeply investigated.
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issn 1687-6075
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language English
publishDate 2014-01-01
publisher Wiley
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series Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
spelling doaj-art-bd91c1de4ec144e99a1d1b4058aae1e22025-08-20T02:19:12ZengWileyScience and Technology of Nuclear Installations1687-60751687-60832014-01-01201410.1155/2014/120640120640Experimental and Numerical Study of Stagnant Zones in Pebble BedXinlong Jia0Xingtuan Yang1Nan Gui2Yu Li3Jiyuan Tu4Shengyao Jiang5Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University and the Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, ChinaInstitute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University and the Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, ChinaInstitute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University and the Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, ChinaInstitute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University and the Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, ChinaInstitute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University and the Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, ChinaInstitute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University and the Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, ChinaThe experimental method (side area method) and DEM simulation have been carried out to analyse the stagnant zone in the quasi-two-dimensional silos. The side area method is a phenomenological method by means of investigating the interface features of different areas composed of different coloured pebbles. Two methods have been discussed to define the stagnant zone. In particular, the area of the stagnant zone has been calculated with the mean-streamline method, and the tracking time of different marking pebbles has been investigated with the stagnant time method to explore the kinematics characteristics of the pebbles. The stagnant zone is crucial for the safety of the pebble-bed reactor, and the practical reactor core must avoid the existence of the stagnant zone. Furthermore, this paper also analyses the effects of bed configuration (the bed height, the base angle, and the friction coefficient) on stagnant zone with the two methods mentioned above. In detail, the bed height shows little impact on the stagnant zones when the bed height exceeds a certain limit, while the base angle has negative prominent correlation with the stagnant zone. The friction coefficient effect seems complicated and presents the great nonlinearity, which deserves to be deeply investigated.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/120640
spellingShingle Xinlong Jia
Xingtuan Yang
Nan Gui
Yu Li
Jiyuan Tu
Shengyao Jiang
Experimental and Numerical Study of Stagnant Zones in Pebble Bed
Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations
title Experimental and Numerical Study of Stagnant Zones in Pebble Bed
title_full Experimental and Numerical Study of Stagnant Zones in Pebble Bed
title_fullStr Experimental and Numerical Study of Stagnant Zones in Pebble Bed
title_full_unstemmed Experimental and Numerical Study of Stagnant Zones in Pebble Bed
title_short Experimental and Numerical Study of Stagnant Zones in Pebble Bed
title_sort experimental and numerical study of stagnant zones in pebble bed
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/120640
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AT yuli experimentalandnumericalstudyofstagnantzonesinpebblebed
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