Results from a multi-physics numerical benchmark for codes dedicated to molten salt fast reactors

Tiberga, Marco; Oliveira, Rodrigo G.G. de; Cervi, Eric; Blanco, Juan A.; Lorenzi, Stefano; Aufiero, Manuele; Lathouwers, D.; Rubiolo, P.

doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2020.107428

Cited by 29 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…For this case, the following exact values for k * ef f are 0.98708 in the decoupled case (case 0), 0.93515 in the affine case (case 1), 1.00000 in the parabolic case (case 2), 0.98490 in the piecewise affine case (case 3), 1.00444 in the parabolic case approached by an affine functions (semi-analytical case 1) and 0.98928 in the piecewise affine case projected on affine functions (semi-analytical case 2). This investigation shows that some times, the exigence of accuracy of the operational calculations [11] could be lightened.…”

Section: Numerical Resultsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Analytic solutions and numerical method for a coupled thermo-neutronic problem

Dubois¹,

Lafitte²

2022

Preprint

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We consider in this contribution a simplified idealized one-dimensional coupled model for neutronics and thermo-hydraulics under the low Mach number approximation. We propose a numerical method treating globally the coupled problem for finding its unique solution. Simultaneously, we use incomplete elliptic integrals to represent analytically the neutron flux. Both methods match perfectly. Note that the multiplication factor, classical output of neutronics problems, depends considerably of the representation of the cross sections.1 This contribution has been presented at LAMA Chambery and CEA Saclay in spring 2022.

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Section: Numerical Resultsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Analytic solutions and numerical method for a coupled thermo-neutronic problem

Dubois¹,

Lafitte²

2022

Preprint

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“…To verify the newly developed multiphysics model for LFMSRs in the present study, we conducted a numerical benchmark test that was proposed by the National Center for Science Research (CNRS) in Grenoble, France, to test multiphysics coupling effectiveness for different high-fidelity tools. 24 In this work, we also model this benchmark to compare developed tool performance against the benchmark participants. Therein, the computational domain is treated as a homogeneous bare reactor.…”

Section: Iib Benchmarkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To evaluate the capability of the simulation tool, we compared benchmark results for fast spectrum MSRs (Ref. 24). Then we investigated the behavior of the LFMSR simulation for the conceptual TerraPower reference design 1 during operational transients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informing Performance Metrics of Advanced I&C Systems for Liquid Fueled Fast Molten Salt Reactors

Jeong

Shirvan

Buric

2022

Nuclear Science and Engineering

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This work establishes a generic multiphysics tool for liquid-fueled molten salt reactors (LFMSRs) to select key installation locations and specify the expected operating temperature range for the development of advanced instrumentation and control systems, particularly distributed temperature sensors using fiber optics. A commercial computation fluid dynamics package (STAR-CCM+) is used to formulate a neutronics and thermal-hydraulic coupled solver, showing good agreement with a recent benchmark problem developed for evaluating the coupling methodology of neutronics and thermal hydraulics. The multiphysics model is then applied to the reference molten chloride salt fast reactor (MCFR) design under development by TerraPower based on publicly available information. The available twodimensional axisymmetric model for the reactor core is used for coupling calculations, and system component details are leveraged using the lumped method to complete the energy balance. The dynamic responses of the MCFR model are investigated during operational transients, such as unprotected loss-offlow and uniform perturbation scenarios. Maximum temperature and local temperature distributions are characterized during unprotected loss of flow and unprotected loss of heat sink events. The thermal responses of the fuel salt and core components are analyzed from induced perturbation of the system parameters, such as the flow rate and the heat sink capacity. The results motivate the use of continuous monitoring of the temperature variation in real time along the reflector region with the use of fiber optics to validate the multiphysics code to support a reactor's licensing basis, as well as to support the structural longevity and improve safety in LFMSRs.

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“…Recently, multi-physics codes developed at four institutions supporting the SAMOFAR project were benchmarked against each other for their ability to model steady state coupling and timedependent modeling of a simple representation of the MSFR [167]. Although standardized, the benchmark is still representative of the main features of the MSFR, including coupling between thermal hydraulics and neutronics codes in the fast spectrum with delayed neutron precursor transport.…”

Section: Salt-fueled Molten Salt Reactorsmentioning

confidence: 99%