Assessing the Heat Transfer Modeling Capabilities of CFD Software for Involute-Shaped Plate Research Reactors

Assessing the Heat Transfer Modeling Capabilities of CFD Software for Involute-Shaped Plate Research Reactors

The ongoing efforts to convert High-Performance Research Reactors (HPRRs) using Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel require reliable thermal–hydraulic assessments of modified core designs. The involute-shaped fuel plates used in several major HPRRs present unique modelin...

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Main Authors: Cezary Bojanowski, Ronja Schönecker, Katarzyna Borowiec, Kaltrina Shehu, Julius Mercz, Frederic Thomas, Yoann Calzavara, Aurelien Bergeron, Prashant Jain, Christian Reiter, Jeremy Licht
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
high-flux research reactor
involute-shaped plate
non-proliferation
LEU
CFD
heat transfer
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/14/3692
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Summary:The ongoing efforts to convert High-Performance Research Reactors (HPRRs) using Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel require reliable thermal–hydraulic assessments of modified core designs. The involute-shaped fuel plates used in several major HPRRs present unique modeling challenges due to their compact core geometries and high heat flux conditions. This study evaluates the capability of three commercial CFD tools, STAR-CCM+, COMSOL, and ANSYS CFX, to predict cladding-to-coolant heat transfer using Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) methods within the thermal–hydraulic regimes of involute-shaped plate reactors. Broad sensitivity analysis was conducted across a range of reactor-relevant parameters using two turbulence models (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>k</mi><mo>−</mo><mi>ϵ</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>k</mi><mo>−</mo><mi>ω</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> SST) and different near-wall treatment strategies. The results were benchmarked against the Sieder–Tate correlation and experimental data from historic studies. The codes produced consistent results, showing good agreement with the empirical correlation of Sieder–Tate and the experimental measurements. The findings support the use of these commercial CFD codes as effective tools for assessing the thermal–hydraulic performance of involute-shaped plate HPRRs and guide future LEU core development.
ISSN:1996-1073

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