Development of a New Thermochemistry Solver for Multiphysics Simulations of Nuclear Materials

A Pathway for the Development of Advanced Reactor Mechanistic Source Term Modeling and Simulation Capabilities

“…Therefore, the first near-term high priority task is the continued development of the thermochemical properties of salt-soluble elements relevant to the source term and eventual inclusion into the Molten Salt Thermodynamic Database (MSTDB-TC) [13][14][15]. This includes development of the Gibbs free energy minimization (GEM) solvers (e.g., Yellowjacket [15,16] or Thermochimica [17][18][19]) which takes MSTDB data as input and estimates speciation and phase equilibria of the system based on thermodynamic equilibrium. In support of NEAMS, this development is already underway as it is a highly cross-cutting research initiative, but further emphasis is recommended on investigating the salt chemistry of all relevant fission products.…”

Application of NEAMS Codes to Capture MSR Phenomena

“…Another GEM solver similar to Thermochimica is currently being developed called Yellowjacket but will be built on the MOOSE framework to facilitate multiphysics coupling. Specifically, Yellowjacket will contain two functionalities built-in: a GEM solver for use with a thermodynamic database like MSTDB-TC and a phase field microscale corrosion modeling tool which will couple charge transport, mechanics, and heat transport for use in molten salt systems [36].…”

Thermodynamically Informed Nuclear Fuel Codes—A Review and Perspectives

“…Solving a system with this type of phase is trivial for most GEM codes; however, it would be mathematically impossible to solve in a phase field code without a GEM code because the system would be under-determined. Efforts are currently underway to develop this capability, which is called YELLOWJACKET [52], and is intended for direct coupling to MARMOT. However, concerns remain in regards to the foreseeable increase in computational expense with direct coupling of a phase field code with a GEM solver and whether it is necessary to have direct coupling or if a simplified approach is more appropriate.…”