scholarly journals Pebble Bed Reactor: core physics and fuel cycle analysis

1979 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.R. Vondy ◽  
B.A. Worley
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Pebble Bed ◽  
Pebble Bed Reactor ◽  
Fuel Cycle Analysis

Combined CFD and DEM Simulations of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in a Pebble Bed Reactor

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Zhao ◽  
Trent Montgomery ◽  
Sijun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Discrete Element Method ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Discrete Element ◽  
Pebble Bed ◽  
Pebble Bed Reactor ◽  
Packing Structure ◽  
Dem Simulations

This paper presents combined computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) simulations of fluid flow and relevant heat transfer in the pebble bed reactor core. In the pebble bed reactor core, the coolant passes highly complicated flow channels, which are formed by thousands of pebbles in a random way. The random packing structure of pebbles is crucial to CFD simulations results. The realistic packing structure in an entire pebble bed reactor (PBR) is generated by discrete element method (DEM). While in CFD calculations, selection of the turbulence models have great importance in accuracy and capturing the details of the flow features, in our numerical simulations both large eddy simulation (LES) and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models are employed to investigate the effects of different turbulence models on gas flow field and relevant heat transfer. The calculations indicate the complex flow structure within the voids between the pebbles.

scholarly journals Study on the effect of various burnable poisons on pebble bed reactor with OTTO fuelling schemes using Serpent 2 Monte Carlo code

2021 ◽  
Vol 927 (1) ◽  
pp. 012018
Author(s):  
Nicholas Sidharta ◽  
Almanzo Arjuna
Keyword(s):  
Power Density ◽  
Power Distribution ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Monte Carlo Code ◽  
Volumetric Fraction ◽  
Pebble Bed ◽  
Pebble Bed Reactor ◽  
Burnable Poison ◽  
Discrete Element Method Simulation ◽  
Upper Level

Abstract Pebble bed reactor with a once-through-then-out fuelling scheme has the advantage of simplifying the refueling system. However, the core upper-level power density is relatively higher than the bottom, producing an asymmetric core axial power distribution. Several burnable poison (BP) configurations are used to flatten the peak power density and improve power distribution while suppressing the excess core reactivity at the beginning of the burnup cycle. This study uses HTR-PM, China’s pebble bed reactor core, to simulate several burnable poison (BP) configurations. Serpent 2 coupled with Octave and a discrete element method simulation is used to model and simulate the pebble bed reactor core. It is found that erbium needs a large volumetric fraction in either QUADRISO or distributed BP to perform well. On the other hand, gadolinium and boron need a smaller volumetric fraction but perform worse in radial power distribution criteria in the fuel sphere. This study aims to verify the effect of BP added fuel pebbles on an OTTO refueling scheme HTR-PM core axial power distribution and excess reactivity.

scholarly journals The effects of fuel type on control rod reactivity of pebble-bed reactor

Nukleonika ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-138
Author(s):  
◽  
Topan Setiadipura ◽  
Jim C. Kuijper ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Reactor Core ◽  
Fuel Type ◽  
Reactor Model ◽  
Pebble Bed ◽  
Pebble Bed Reactor ◽  
Control Rod ◽  
Reactor Geometry ◽  
Calculation Results ◽  
Control Rods ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract As a crucial core physics parameter, the control rod reactivity has to be predicted for the control and safety of the reactor. This paper studies the control rod reactivity calculation of the pebble-bed reactor with three scenarios of UO2, (Th,U)O2, and PuO2 fuel type without any modifications in the configuration of the reactor core. The reactor geometry of HTR-10 was selected for the reactor model. The entire calculation of control rod reactivity was done using the MCNP6 code with ENDF/B-VII library. The calculation results show that the total reactivity worth of control rods in UO2-, (U,Th)O2-, and PuO2-fueled cores is 15.87, 15.25, and 14.33%Δk/k, respectively. These results prove that the effectiveness of total control rod in thorium and uranium cores is almost similar to but higher than that in plutonium cores. The highest reactivity worth of individual control rod in uranium, thorium and plutonium cores is 1.64, 1.44, and 1.53%Δk/k corresponding to CR8, CR1, and CR5, respectively. The other results demonstrate that the reactor can be safely shutdown with the control rods combination of CR3+CR5+CR8+CR10, CR2+CR3+CR7+CR8, and CR1+CR3+CR6+CR8 in UO2-, (U,Th)O2-, and PuO2-fueled cores, respectively. It can be concluded that, even though the calculation results are not so much different, however, the selection of control rods should be considered in the pebble-bed core design with different scenarios of fuel type.

scholarly journals Experimental and Numerical Study of Stagnant Zones in Pebble Bed

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinlong Jia ◽  
Xingtuan Yang ◽  
Nan Gui ◽  
Yu Li ◽  
Jiyuan Tu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Friction Coefficient ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Stagnant Zone ◽  
Pebble Bed ◽  
Pebble Bed Reactor ◽  
Area Method ◽  
Base Angle ◽  
Bed Height ◽  
Tracking Time

The experimental method (side area method) and DEM simulation have been carried out to analyse the stagnant zone in the quasi-two-dimensional silos. The side area method is a phenomenological method by means of investigating the interface features of different areas composed of different coloured pebbles. Two methods have been discussed to define the stagnant zone. In particular, the area of the stagnant zone has been calculated with the mean-streamline method, and the tracking time of different marking pebbles has been investigated with the stagnant time method to explore the kinematics characteristics of the pebbles. The stagnant zone is crucial for the safety of the pebble-bed reactor, and the practical reactor core must avoid the existence of the stagnant zone. Furthermore, this paper also analyses the effects of bed configuration (the bed height, the base angle, and the friction coefficient) on stagnant zone with the two methods mentioned above. In detail, the bed height shows little impact on the stagnant zones when the bed height exceeds a certain limit, while the base angle has negative prominent correlation with the stagnant zone. The friction coefficient effect seems complicated and presents the great nonlinearity, which deserves to be deeply investigated.

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