Annals of the Assembly for International Heat Transfer Conference 13

ISBN 1-56700-225-0 / CD 1-56700-226-9

Year 2006

J. Katolicky
Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic

M. Blaha
TES, Ltd., Trebic, Czech Republic

Miroslav Jicha
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technicka 2, 616 69 Brno, Czech Republic

J. Frelich
TES, Ltd., Trebic, Czech Republic

The paper introduces results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of water flow at the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) outlet and under the RPV head. Several CFD calculations of the steady-state and dynamic processes involving forced and natural circulation of coolant are presented in the paper.
In the steady-state regime, several calculations were performed for various number of the reactor coolant system (RCS) loops connected to the reactor and the results have been used to analyse the effect of the RCS configuration to the coolant flow at the reactor outlet and under the reactor vessel head. General flow patterns are described in the outlet part of the reactor and under the reactor vessel head and, also, the influence of a lower flow rate through the reactor on thermal homogeneity of coolant under the vessel head. Simultaneously, we discuss the influence of the coolant flow rate at the core outlet on the heat transfer from the under-head space.
Validation calculations were also done for a reactor cool-down in the regime of natural circulation. Results of CFD calculations are compared with the data obtained from the experiments led in the frame of the cool-down process of VVER440 reactor at Mochovce nuclear power plant in 2003. In the comparisons, the main attention was paid to establishing the basic trends in the cool-down of water content at the outlet part of the reactor and under the head of the reactor vessel.

NCL-05 pages DOI: 10.1615/IHTC13.p7.50 Download article

Article price - $35.00

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