High-resolution thermal analysis of nuclear thermal propulsion fuel element using OpenFOAM

Wang, J.C.; Kotlyar, Dan

doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2020.110957

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, the work performed by the pump (W ) in Watts can be found from Equation ( 13), while the shaft work necessary to drive the pump can be found from Equation (14).…”

Section: Steady-state Pumpmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ntpThermo package was developed as an engineering tool to perform multi-channel full core T/H analysis specifically tailored for coupled neutronic and T/H simulations. The package was previously validated [14] and code-to-code verified [13]. The integration of turbomachinery together with the flexibility to perform multi-channel T/H simulations of the various components provides a comprehensive full system analysis [15], enabling an accurate steady-state solution that can be extended for transient reactor operations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Integrated Steady-State System Package for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis Using Multi-Dimensional Thermal Hydraulics and Dimensionless Turbopump Treatment

Myers,

DeHart,

Kotlyar

2024

Energies

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nuclear thermal propulsion is an evolving technology that can be utilized for long-distance space travel. This technology yields the advantage of a high thrust and specific impulse, but requires an examination of the potential design adjustments necessary to enhance its feasibility. The development of nuclear thermal propulsion requires a comprehensive understanding of the system-level behavior during transient and steady-state operation. This paper extends our previous research by including the proper handling of turbomachinery with multi-channel thermal hydraulic simulations only for steady-state solutions. The system-level approach presented here enables the treatment of the turbopump components through non-dimensional analysis that eliminates the assumption of constant efficiencies. All the other components within the system (e.g., reflector and core) can be discretized to multiple channels and layers, in which the full thermal hydraulic solution is established. The approach chosen here enables the realistic modeling of the propellant flow within the expander cycle by capturing the pressure losses, mass flow rate splits, and enthalpy gain for various operational conditions. The verification of the package is completed through point comparisons of previous investigations into similar system designs. Furthermore, sensitivity studies are used to benchmark the capabilities of the package and investigate solution variations due to the perturbation of operational conditions and regimes. The sensitivity studies performed here are important to capture variation in flow characteristics (e.g., temperature, pressure, mass flow rates) for different design objectives such as the thrust and specific impulse. This work demonstrates that system-level simulations lacking multi-channel capability and proper turbomachinery treatment may yield higher uncertainties in understanding the engine’s response and characteristics to changing various requirements. This is extremely important when screening the design space of such propulsion systems and when transient simulations are required.

show abstract

“…Finally, the work performed by the pump (W ) in Watts can be found from Equation ( 13), while the shaft work necessary to drive the pump can be found from Equation (14).…”

Section: Steady-state Pumpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Steady-State System Package for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis Using Multi-Dimensional Thermal Hydraulics and Dimensionless Turbopump Treatment

Myers,

DeHart,

Kotlyar

2024

Energies

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Figure 12 displays the equivalent FE and full ME model that preserves the hydraulic parameter and fuel volume. The equivalent FE model draws on the method by Wang and Kotlyar (2021). The method uses 1/19 of the full explicit FE model to get a conservative but quick result, although it is more suited for solving circular and annular pins instead of hexagonal prisms.…”

Section: Frontiers In Energy Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The method uses 1/19 of the full explicit FE model to get a conservative but quick result, although it is more suited for solving circular and annular pins instead of hexagonal prisms. As for the heat transfer mechanism between assemblies, different from the 1.5D conduction-convection solution (Krecicki and Kotlyar, 2020;Wang and Kotlyar, 2021), the current research focuses on deriving the heat transfer equations between the two assemblies according to the principle of heat flow diversion and superposition (Holman, 2010). Heat flux Q 2→1 through the cylinder surface of the fuel channel can be deduced from the heat conduction differential equation and corresponding boundary conditions for the steadystate temperature distribution in the equivalent fuel assembly, shown as Eq.…”

Section: Frontiers In Energy Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, most of the work above relied on empirical heat transfer correlations and focused on HEU objects instead of LEU ones. Recently, Wang and Kotlyar (2021) utilized a reduced-order 1.5D semi-analytic solution to implant the legacy heat transfer correlations for a 3D CHT numerical solver on the OpenFOAM platform. Moreover, the in-house 1.5D reduced-order solver, namely, THERMO, uses an inaccurate heat transfer model between fuel assembly and moderator assembly due to the current implementation limitation within THERMO (Krecicki and Kotlyar, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Numerical investigation of heat transfer characteristics of moderator assembly employed in a low-enriched uranium nuclear thermal propulsion reactor

Guan²,

Song³

et al. 2022

Front. Energy Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The design of a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) reactor based on low-enriched uranium (LEU) requires additional moderator elements in the core to physically meet the critical requirements. This design softens the core energy spectrum and can provide more thermal neutrons for the fission reaction, but the heat transfer characteristics between the fuel and moderator assembly are more complex. Aiming at the typical LEU unit design, the heat transfer mathematical model is established using the principle of heat flow diversion and superposition. The model adopts the heat transfer relationship based on STAR-CCM+ simulation rather than the empirical expression used in the past literature to improve the applicability of the model. The heat transfer coefficients in the proposed model are evaluated under different Reynolds numbers and thermal power. The deviations between the proposed model and CFD simulation are analyzed. The results show that the calculation of the heat transfer coefficient between the proposed model and the CFD simulation maintains a good consistency, most of which are within 10%. It may provide a reliable and conservative temperature estimation model for future LEU core design.

show abstract

Review on Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis of Fuel Element and Simulation Methods

Cárdenas R.,

Collazos Morales,

Amaya

et al. 2023

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High-resolution thermal analysis of nuclear thermal propulsion fuel element using OpenFOAM

Cited by 10 publications

References 5 publications

Integrated Steady-State System Package for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis Using Multi-Dimensional Thermal Hydraulics and Dimensionless Turbopump Treatment

Integrated Steady-State System Package for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis Using Multi-Dimensional Thermal Hydraulics and Dimensionless Turbopump Treatment

Numerical investigation of heat transfer characteristics of moderator assembly employed in a low-enriched uranium nuclear thermal propulsion reactor

Review on Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis of Fuel Element and Simulation Methods

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About