A comparative study of the MATRA-LMR-FB calculation with the SABRE result for the flow blockage accident in the sodium cooled fast reactor

A CFD analysis of flow blockage phenomena in ALFRED LFR demo fuel assembly

“…sodium and lead, being the flow blockage phenomena in light water reactors a quite different matter because of the unity order of the Prandtl number Chang et al (2011), Han and Fontana (1977), Hooper and Wood (1982), Klein and Sesonske (1981), Kirsch (1974), Lu et al (2009).…”

“…An intermediate practices is to apply subchannels codes to evaluate these phenomena, see, e.g. Chang et al (2011) for SFR.…”

MATRA-LMR-FB assessment with THORS bundle 2B experiments

“…The high coolant temperature may eventually reach a limited point, and thus a degradation of the fuel pin should be a concern. Another concern is the potential of an external blockage occurrence, and the most severe of all imaginable blockages is TIB (Total Instantaneous Blockage) (Chang et al, 2011). The topic, however, was out of the scope.…”

“…Although MATRA-LMR-FB was qualified based on the available experimental data including a code-to-code comparative analysis (Chang et al, 2011), it is still hard to say that the level of confidence was sufficient to apply to an SFR design with full satisfaction. Additional studies are therefore needed to supplement a qualification of the MATRA-LMR-FB.…”

“…To analyze the inlet blockage accident, the distribution of flow at the inlet boundary must be provided, different from the previous analyses (e.g. Chang et al, 2011) which needed only the total inlet flow. Therefore, it must be of interest how closely the MATRA-LMR-FB predicts the experimental measurements and whether the CFX can explain the MATRA-LMR-FB deviations from the test results to some extent.…”