CFD Analysis of Turbulent Flow Phenomena in the Lower Plenum of a Prismatic Gas-Cooled Reactor

摘要

This paper is concerned with the implementation of a computational model of turbulent flow in a section of the lower plenum of Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR). The proposed model has been encoded in a state-of-the-art CFD code, NPHASE. The results of NPHASE predictions have been compared against the experimental data collected using a scaled model of a sub-region in the lower plenum of a modular prismatic gas-cooled reactor. It has been shown that the NPHASE-based model is capable of predicting a three-dimensional velocity field in a complex geometrical configuration of VHTR lower plenum. The current and future validations of computational predictions are necessary for design and analysis of new reactor concepts, as well as for safety analysis and licensing calculations.