Javier Ortensi

CYNOD: A Neutronics Code for Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Coupled Transient Analysis

In this paper, a new neutron kinetics solver for cylindrical R-Z geometry, CYNOD, is presented for the simulation of coupled transient problems for pebble bed reactors. The code utilizes the Direct Coarse Mesh Finite Difference method, in which a set of one-dimensional equations in each transverse direction is solved by means of the analytic Green’s function method. A method that deals with control rod cusping problems is also presented. A heterogeneous fuel kernel model is implemented in order to accurately take into account Doppler feedback effects. Numerical results that demonstrate the accuracy of the code are also presented.Copyright

Improved Prediction of the Temperature Feedback in TRISO-Fueled Reactors

The Doppler feedback mechanism is a major contributor to the passive safety of gas-cooled, graphite-moderated high temperature reactors that use fuel based on Tristructural-Isotropic coated particles. It follows that the correct prediction of the magnitude and time-dependence of this feedback effect is essential to the conduct of safety analyses for these reactors. We present a fuel conduction model for obtaining better estimates of the temperature feedback during moderate and fast transients. The fuel model has been incorporated in the CYNOD-THERMIX-KONVEK suite of coupled codes as a single TRISO particle within each calculation cell. The heat generation rate is scaled down from the neutronic solution and a Dirichlet boundary condition is imposed as the bulk graphite temperature from the thermal-hydraulic solution. This simplified approach yields similar results to those obtained with more complex methods, requiring multi-TRISO calculations within one control volume, but with much less computational effort. An analysis of the hypothetical total control ejection in the PBMR-400 design verifies the performance of the code during fast transients. In addition, the analysis of the earthquake-initiated event in the PBMR-400 design verifies the performance of the code during slow transients. These events clearly depict the improvement in the predictions of the fuel temperature, and consequently, of the power escalations. In addition, a brief study of the potential effects of particle layer de-bonding on the transient behavior of high temperature reactors is included. Although the formation of a gap occurs under special conditions its consequences on the dynamic behavior of the reactor should be analyzed. The presence of a gap in the fuel can cause some unusual reactor behavior during fast transients, but still the reactor shuts down due to the strong feedback effects.

A flexible nonlinear diffusion acceleration method for the SN transport equations discretized with discontinuous finite elements

Abstract This work presents a flexible nonlinear diffusion acceleration (NDA) method that discretizes both the S N transport equation and the diffusion equation using the discontinuous finite element method (DFEM). The method is flexible in that the diffusion equation can be discretized on a coarser mesh with the only restriction that it is nested within the transport mesh and the FEM shape function orders of the two equations can be different. The consistency of the transport and diffusion solutions at convergence is defined by using a projection operator mapping the transport into the diffusion FEM space. The diffusion weak form is based on the modified incomplete interior penalty (MIP) diffusion DFEM discretization that is extended by volumetric drift, interior face, and boundary closure terms. In contrast to commonly used coarse mesh finite difference (CMFD) methods, the presented NDA method uses a full FEM discretized diffusion equation for acceleration. Suitable projection and prolongation operators arise naturally from the FEM framework. Via Fourier analysis and numerical experiments for a one-group, fixed source problem the following properties of the NDA method are established for structured quadrilateral meshes: (1) the presented method is unconditionally stable and effective in the presence of mild material heterogeneities if the same mesh and identical shape functions either of the bilinear or biquadratic type are used, (2) the NDA method remains unconditionally stable in the presence of strong heterogeneities, (3) the NDA method with bilinear elements extends the range of effectiveness and stability by a factor of two when compared to CMFD if a coarser diffusion mesh is selected. In addition, the method is tested for solving the C5G7 multigroup, eigenvalue problem using coarse and fine mesh acceleration. While NDA does not offer an advantage over CMFD for fine mesh acceleration, it reduces the iteration count required for convergence by almost a factor of two in the case of coarse mesh acceleration.

Status Report on the Modeling of TRISO Energy Deposition, Time-Dependent Temperature Field and Doppler Feedback

The Doppler feedback mechanism is a major contributor to the passive safety of gas-cooled, graphite-moderated high temperature reactors that use fuel based on Tristructural-Isotropic coated particles. It follows that the correct prediction of the magnitude and time-dependence of this feedback effect is essential to the conduct of safety analyses for these reactors. We present a fuel conduction model for obtaining better estimates of the temperature feedback during moderate and fast transients. The fuel model has been incorporated in the CYNOD-THERMIX-KONVEK suite of coupled codes as a single TRISO particle within each calculation cell. The heat generation rate is scaled down from the neutronic solution and a Dirichlet boundary condition is imposed as the bulk graphite temperature from the thermal-hydraulic solution. This simplified approach yields similar results to those obtained with more complex methods, requiring multi-TRISO calculations within one control volume, but with much less computational effort. We provide an analysis of the hypothetical total control ejection event in the PBMR-400 design that clearly depicts the improvement in the predictions of the fuel temperature.