Fluid-Dynamic Analysis of Flow Mixing in Nuclear Reactor Vessels Using CFD

Abstract

This study addresses the computational simulation of a scaled pressure vessel. The main objective is to evaluate the capabilities of CFD codes to accurately reproduce the distribution of velocity, temperature, and solute throughout the vessel. The ROCOM experimental facility is a 1:5 scale model of a conventional pressurized light-water reactor (PWR) equipped with multiple sensors, allowing for the assessment of different variables in various regions and under different conditions. Mesh convergence studies demonstrated that the fluid-dynamic distribution shows some independence from the level of refinement due to the capability of turbulence models to simulate turbulent structures that are not resolved in coarser meshes. The vessel model has shown good results compared to experimental data, particularly in the distribution of a tracer, which represents a highly sensitive variable in the experiment.