Study and simulation of complex thermal-hydraulic phenomena in nuclear reactors using the CFD method: Validation of models by reference benchmark experimental data

Abstract

The current work documents the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code validation activity, carried out at the Nuclear Research Center of Birine relevant to Atomic Energy Commission of Algeria as part of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Project (CRP): Application of CFD Codes for Nuclear Power Plant Design to assess the current capabilities of these codes and to contribute to technological progress in their verification and validation. A set of ROCOM CFD-grade test data of Pressurized Thermal Shock test (PTS) specifications was made available in the framework of this (CRP) by Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, (HZDR) Germany, to perform detailed calculations of the proposed test. The reference point is the injection of relatively cold core cooling water (ECC), which can induce buoyant stratification. The data obtained from the PTS experiment were compared with the results of Ansys-CFX calculations in this paper. The unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) model is used to examine the buoyancy- influenced flows in the reactor pressure vessel for condition where natural circulation is a dominant factor. The Shear Stress Transport (SST k-ω) turbulence model is used to take into account the turbulence effects on the mean flow. Calculation results show a good qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experiment data.