A transient multiphysics coupling method based on OpenFOAM for heat pipe cooled reactors

Guo, Yuchuan; Li, Zeguang; Wang, Kan; Su, Zilin

doi:10.1007/s11431-021-1874-0

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Their calculation results showed that the reactivity change due to thermal expansion accounted for 89.4% of the total reactivity feedback, and even if a limited number of heat pipe failure accidents occurred, the remaining heat pipes could still provide sufficient thermal conductivity to ensure the safety of the core. GUO et al proposed a coupled calculation method called "thermalMechanicsFoam" for solving transient multiphysics fields in HPRs which uses Reactor Monte Carlo (RMC) to calculate the power distribution within the core and cooperates with OpenFOAM to calculate core temperature and expansion [21]. Tao Li et al established a transient analysis method combining threedimensional core heat transfer with two-dimensional heat pipe heat transfer [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the Dynamic Characteristics Analysis and Power Control Method of Heat Pipe Reactors

Yin,

Yu,

Sheng

et al. 2023

Applied Sciences

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A heat pipe reactor (HPR) is a kind of modular small reactor with broad application prospects, and its dynamic characteristics and nuclear power control are essential to the safe and stable operation of nuclear power plants. Taking the MegaPower HPR as an example, the dynamic characteristics of the HPR are analyzed, and its power control method is designed in this paper. Based on the lumped parameter idea, the equivalent processing of the structure of the HPR core is carried out, and the main parameters of the heat pipe heat exchanger are designed at first. A lightweight dynamic model of the HPR is established using a thermal resistance network, and the accuracy of the model is verified using the solution of the model under the steady-state full power condition. Then, the dynamic characteristics of the HPR without a controller are analyzed respectively with the disturbance reactivity and mass flow rate, indicating strong self-stability and self-regulation of the HPR. Finally, a reinforcement learning (RL) controller based on the twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient (TD3) algorithm is designed for the HPR power control, and it is adjusted through appropriately setting states, network structures, reward functions, etc. To verify the performance of the controller, a step response simulation ranging from 100%FP to 90%FP, a compound conditions simulation, and a large load change simulation are carried out, respectively. The results show that the RL controller can find the optimal control strategy through training. Meanwhile, it significantly improves the dynamic and steady-state performance of nuclear power compared with uncontrolled case and PID controller case, and it has the ability of power control under all operating conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the Dynamic Characteristics Analysis and Power Control Method of Heat Pipe Reactors

Yin,

Yu,

Sheng

et al. 2023

Applied Sciences

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“…Since OpenFOAM is open-source software, its solver could be modified and improved easily, and could be coupled easily it with other codes. Taking these advantages of OpenFOAM, Tsinghua University performed multiphysics analysis of KRUSTY using the OpenFOAM-RMC code (Guo et al, 2021;Guo et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiphysics analysis of heat pipe cooled microreactor core with adjusted heat sink temperature for thermal stress reduction using OpenFOAM coupled with neutronics and heat pipe code

Jeong

Lee

et al. 2023

Front. Energy Res.

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Heat-pipe-cooled microreactors (HPRs) have advantages such as a compact design, easy transportation, and improved system reliability and stability. The core of an HPR consists of fuel rods and heat pipes in a monolith, which is a solid block structure containing many holes for the fuel rods and heat pipes. When designing the core of an HPR, high thermal stress and reactivity feedback owing to thermal expansion are important considerations. Therefore, a high-fidelity multiphysics analysis tool is required for accurately analyzing an HPR core. When performing a multiphysics analysis, it is necessary to couple the heat pipe thermal analysis code, thermal-structural analysis code, and neutronics code. To develop a multiphysics analysis tool, OpenFOAM, an open source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool, and ANLHTP, a heat pipe thermal analysis code, were coupled. In this process, the structural analysis solver of OpenFOAM was verified, and its limitations were improved. To confirm the proper working of the code, the mini-core problem was analyzed using the OpenFOAM-ANLHTP coupled code. Next, to consider the reactivity feedback, coupling with PRAGMA, a GPU-based continuous-energy-Monte Carlo neutronics code was performed, and the multiphysics analysis capability of the OpenFOAM-ANLHTP-PRAGMA coupled code was confirmed through an analysis of the MegaPower reactor core. To reduce the temperature distribution within the monolith, the temperature distribution of the heat pipe sink was adjusted, and the reduced thermal stress of an HPR core was observed.

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Thermal-hydraulic and load following performance analysis of a heat pipe cooled reactor

Jiao,

Xia,

Wang

et al. 2024

Nuclear Engineering and Technology

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A transient multiphysics coupling method based on OpenFOAM for heat pipe cooled reactors

Cited by 5 publications

References 30 publications

Research on the Dynamic Characteristics Analysis and Power Control Method of Heat Pipe Reactors

Research on the Dynamic Characteristics Analysis and Power Control Method of Heat Pipe Reactors

Multiphysics analysis of heat pipe cooled microreactor core with adjusted heat sink temperature for thermal stress reduction using OpenFOAM coupled with neutronics and heat pipe code

Thermal-hydraulic and load following performance analysis of a heat pipe cooled reactor

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