Ik Kyu Park

THE CUPID CODE DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT STRATEGY

A thermal-hydraulic code, named CUPID, has been being developed for the realistic analysis of transient two-phase flows in nuclear reactor components. The CUPID code development was motivated from very practical needs, including the analyses of a downcomer boiling, a two-phase flow mixing in a pool, and a two-phase flow in a direct vessel injection system. The CUPID code adopts a two-fluid, three-field model for two-phase flows, and the governing equations are solved over unstructured grids with a semi-implicit two-step method. This paper presents an overview of the CUPID code development and assessment strategy. It also presents the code couplings with a system code, MARS, and, a three-dimensional reactor kinetics code, MASTER.

DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF A THREE-DIMENSIONAL THERMAL HYDRAULICS CODE, CUPID

For the analysis of transient two-phase flows in nuclear reactor components, a three-dimensional thermal hydraulics code, named CUPID, has been developed. The CUPID code adopts a two-fluid, three-field model for two-phase flows, and the governing equations were solved over unstructured grids, which are very useful for the analysis of flows in complicated geometries. To obtain numerical solutions, the semi-implicit numerical method for the REALP5 code was modified for an application to unstructured grids, and it has been further improved for enhanced accuracy and fast running. For the verification of the CUPID code, a set of conceptual problems and experiments were simulated. This paper presents the flow model, the numerical solution method, and the results of the preliminary assessment.

MULTI-SCALE THERMAL-HYDRAULIC ANALYSIS OF PWRS USING THE CUPID CODE

KAERI has developed a two-phase CFD code, CUPID, for a refined calculation of transient two-phase flows related to nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics, and its numerical models have been verified in previous studies. In this paper, the CUPID code is validated against experiments on the downcomer boiling and moderator flow in a Calandria vessel. Physical models relevant to the validation are discussed. Thereafter, multi-scale thermal hydraulic analyses using the CUPID code are introduced. At first, a component-scale calculation for the passive condensate cooling tank (PCCT) of the PASCAL experiment is linked to the CFD-scale calculation for local boiling heat transfer outside the heat exchanger tube. Next, the Rossendorf coolant mixing (ROCOM) test is analyzed by using the CUPID code, which is implicitly coupled with a systemscale code, MARS.

RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CUPID CODE FOR A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL TWO-PHASE FLOW ANALYSIS OF NUCLEAR REACTOR COMPONENTS

The CUPID code has been developed at KAERI for a transient, three-dimensional analysis of a two-phase flow in light water nuclear reactor components. It can provide both a component-scale and a CFD-scale simulation by using a porous media or an open media model for a two-phase flow. In this paper, recent advances in the CUPID code are presented in three sections. First, the domain decomposition parallel method implemented in the CUPID code is described with the parallel efficiency test for multiple processors. Then, the coupling of CUPID-MARS via heat structure is introduced, where CUPID has been coupled with a system-scale thermal-hydraulics code, MARS, through the heat structure. The coupled code has been applied to a multi-scale thermal-hydraulic analysis of a pool mixing test. Finally, CUPID-SG is developed for analyzing two-phase flows in PWR steam generators. Physical models and validation results of CUPID-SG are discussed.

A Fast-Running Semi-Implicit Numerical Scheme for Transient Two-Phase Flows on Unstructured Grids

A numerical method is presented for transient two-phase flows on unstructured grids. The two-fluid, three-field model is adopted for two-phase flows. The solution algorithm is based on two existing semi-implicit methods and takes advantage of the two algorithms: The pressure correction is obtained from the momentum and continuity equations such that the pressure matrix becomes symmetric, allowing for faster convergence. At the same time, the energy and noncondensable gas quality changes are considered explicitly in the linearized continuity equations, resulting in accurate transient solutions. The results of verification show that the new method is faster and more accurate than the two earlier methods.

Computational Analysis of Downcomer Boiling Phenomena Using a Component Thermal Hydraulic Analysis Code, CUPID

For the analysis of transient two-phase flows in nuclear reactor components such as a reactor vessel, a steam generator, and a containment, KAERI has developed a three-dimensional thermal hydraulic code, CUPID . It adopts a three-dimensional, transient, two-phase and three-field model and includes various physical models and correlations of the interfacial mass, momentum, and energy transfer for the closure. In the present paper, the CUPID code and its two-phase flow models were assessed against the downcomer boiling experiment, which was performed to simulate the downcomer boiling phenomena. They may happen in the downcomer of a nuclear reactor vessel during the reflood phase of a postulated loss of coolant accident. The stored energy release from the reactor vessel to the liquid inside the downcomer causes the boiling on the wall, and it can reduce the hydraulic head of the accumulated water, which is the driving force of water reflooding to the core. The computational analysis using the CUPID code showed that it can appropriately predict the multidimensional boiling phenomena under a low pressure and low flow rate condition with modification of the bubble size model.

Preliminary Analysis of Two-Phase Flow in a Steam Generator Using CUPID-SG

CUPID-SG is a component scale thermal-hydraulic analysis tool based on CUPID, which is intended to be a computer code for analyzing two-phase flows in porous media with tube bundles such as PWR steam generators. CUPID-SG adopts two-fluid, three-field conservation equations, and uses an in-house semi-implicit solver to obtain numerical efficiency. CUPID-SG can handle unstructured meshes that enable its application in complex geometries. CUPID-SG also has constitutive models for a two-phase flow map, interfacial heat and mass transfer, interfacial drag, wall friction, wall heating, and heat partitioning. CUPID-SG is benchmarked against a few cases of FRIGG tests to confirm that the transport models are correctly implemented and the code is applicable to a two-phase flow over tube bundles. The comparison showed that the constitutive models are properly implemented and CUPID-SG is capable of analyzing a two-phase boiling flow over tube bundles.Copyright

Simulations of air–water flow and subcooled boiling flow using the CUPID code

This paper summarizes the physical models and a modified numerical procedure for the lift force of the CUPID code to simulate a subcooled boiling flow. A part of these physical models and the numerical procedure were verified through a calculation of air–water flow tests. A subcooled boiling flow was then calculated to assess the whole implementation. These assessments indicate that the implementation of the physical models and a modified numerical scheme are appropriate, and that the calculated primary variables of a subcooled boiling flow such as the liquid velocity and void fraction profiles can be acceptable in general, though IATE and a turbulence model for a two-phase flow are needed to be improved for a better prediction.

Nonorthogonality Correction Method for a Two-Phase Semiimplicit Algorithm on a Polyhedral Unstructured Mesh

Nonorthogonality is often encountered in structured or unstructured mesh generation for computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A flow solution from CFD can degenerate because of mesh nonorthogonality. Sometimes, it is difficult to obtain a converged solution because of a numerical instability originating from a nonorthogonal mesh, especially in the case of a two-phase flow analysis. In this study, a method for nonorthogonality correction of a pressure-correction equation is proposed for application to a two-phase implicit continuous Eulerian (ICE) algorithm. In the case of a two-phase flow with buoyant force, a pressure gradient must be carefully reconstructed. A density-weighted interpolation of the pressure can be used for the pressure gradient, but it may generate an erroneous solution. Effort was devoted to improve the method and implement it for a general polyhedral mesh. The methods are implemented in the CUPID code and tested by solving conceptual two-phase flow problems.

Porous Media Approach of a CFD Code to Analyze Thermal Hydraulics of PWR Components

This paper presents a set of numerical procedure to innovate CFD code into a PWR component analysis code. A porous media approach is adapted to two-fluid model and conductor model, and a pack of constitutive relations close the numerical model into a PWR component analysis code. The separate verification calculations on conductor model and porous media approach, and the validation calculation for the integrated component-scale code are introduced.Copyright