Sub-channel CFD for nuclear fuel bundles

This paper presents a novel Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based sub-channel framework for nuclear power plants, which combines the advantageous features of modern CFD and traditional 1-D sub-channel codes. The new method is capable of producing CFD-level 3-D results with locally desirable refinement when coupled with embedded resolved models, but because a very coarse mesh is used over most part of the domain, the computing cost is typically significantly smaller than that of a conventional CFD simulation.

In this new sub-channel CFD (SubChCFD), a dual-mesh system is used, comprising, (i) a filtering mesh which aligns with the mesh used in typical sub-channel codes, enabling the use of existing engineering correlations to account for integral wall friction and heat transfer effects, and (ii) a computing mesh, which provides a platform for the solution of the governing equations with turbulence modelled using a mixing-length-type model. The method has been implemented in an open-source finite volume CFD code Code_Saturne and validated initially using a 5 × 5 bare bundle case based on the OECD/NEA MATiS-H benchmarking experiment. It has been found that SubChCFD is able of satisfactorily predicting both the velocity and temperature fields. To further investigate the performance for complex flow conditions, SubChCFD was applied to two full 3-D cases. The first is a 5 × 5 rod bundle case with local blockage in one of the sub-channels, creating significant localised cross flows. The second is a two-parallel-assembly channel with different input mass flow rates at the inlet of each assembly, allowing strong inter-assembly mixing. For both cases, SubChCFD has produced results which agree well with experiments and simulations using resolved CFD. It has also been demonstrated that SubChCFD exhibits excellent flexibility in comparison with traditional sub-channel codes and that it has the potential to serve as a substitution to sub-channel codes.