Modelling of Small Modular Reactors Using CFD at CNL

Abstract

At present, no clear guidelines exist for modelling non-water cooled SMRs (molten salt, gas and metal cooled reactors) and there is a need for high-fidelity simulation tools to assist regulators and the industry in modelling SMRs. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is being used in performance evaluation and safety analysis of non-water cooled SMRs because it is capable of modeling 3D fluid flow and heat transfer in geometries of arbitrary complexity without resorting to geometry-specific empirical correlations. This paper discusses the ongoing CNL development and application of CFD in modelling reactor cores of gas-, metal- and molten-salt cooled reactors. The available best practise guidelines are followed as much as possible in the execution of steady state CFD modeling and simulations. The results presented in this paper constitute the first step in developing CNL’s capability for modeling SMRs. The path forward and a plan to test the CFD methodology using the commercial CFD code STAR-CCM+ together with the RELAP5-3D system thermalhydraulics code are also discussed.