This electronic flyer highlights our capabilities and activities in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics for the Nuclear Power Plants. Please sign our guestbook. For additional information, e-mail Dr. Kaushik Das, Southwest Research Institute.

Computational Fluid Dynamics for the Nuclear Power Plants 

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools have revolutionized the engineering design and optimization process by limiting expensive experimentation and providing virtual (computer-based) solutions with short turnaround time. CFD tools have recently been used for nuclear power plant (NPP) design, licensing, and operations.

The Geosciences and Engineering Division (GED) at Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) completed several CFD-related projects and recently extended its CFD capabilities to in-reactor flow simulations.

Capabilities

Our CFD capabilities include:

  • Thermal-hydraulic analysis of rod bundles for single-phase flows as encountered in pressurized water reactors, metal-cooled reactors, and gas-cooled reactors
  • Lower plenum flow analysis
  • Thermal analysis of spent fuel casks
  • Intermediate heat exchanger flow and thermal analysis
  • Detailed component-level modeling of reactor sections and parts
  • Numerical study of spent fuel storage facilities
  • Particulate flow analyses for nuclear applications
  • Numerical simulation of high-speed jet flows
  • Multiphase flow simulation

GED engineers have simulated flow across staggered cylinders encountered in heat exchangers and reactors. The figure shows the streamlines and vorticity surfaces in the domain.

Applications

Clients who could benefit from GED expertise include utilities, regulatory agencies, research organizations, and those involved in NPP design and production. Our focus is on technical assistance and research in CFD applications related to:

  • Comprehensive flow and heat transfer analysis of primary and secondary systems and components of nuclear power reactors
  • Circulation and heat transfer analysis of pool storage facilities
  • Design and design verification for new NPP installations
  • Licensing and regulatory support to new NPPs
  • Operations, analyses, and upgrades for existing NPPs
  • Analysis of existing or aging NPPs that are being evaluated for safety or license renewal

Additional simulations show the time-averaged velocity distribution in a rod bundle.

 

Using unsteady RANS techniques, GED scientists traced the time-dependent fluctuating velocity components for flow in fuel rod assemblies.

 

GED performed three-dimensional simulations for high-speed flow over a circular cylinder to validate multiscale hybrid turbulence models.

Resources

Using a tailored selection from among commercial, open source, and in-house CFD software, GED addresses diverse client requirements. Dedicated pre- and post-processing tools for mesh generation and visualization enhance problem-solving and communication of results to clients.

 

GED simulated a 37-rod fuel assembly using a multiscale hybrid model to show temperature distribution

GED engineers performed thermal analysis of spent fuel storage canisters to understand the temperature distribution pattern and maximum temperature locations during transportation.

 

This flyer was published in April 2009. For more information about Computational Fluid Dynamics for the Nuclear Power Plants, contact Kaushik Das, Ph.D. , Phone (210) 522-4269, International 001-210-522-4269, or contact Debashis Basu, Ph.D., Phone (210) 522-8333, International 011-210-522-8333, Geosciences and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 782298-0510.

Geosciences and Engineering Brochures
SwRI Brochures separate.gif (834 bytes) SwRI Publications
SwRI Technical Divisions separate.gif (834 bytes) SwRI Home