scholarly journals Numerical modelling of modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactors with thorium fuel

Nukleonika ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 133-138
Author(s):  
Mikołaj Oettingen ◽  
Jerzy Cetnar

Abstract The volumetric homogenization method for the simplified modelling of modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor core with thorium-uranium fuel is presented in the paper. The method significantly reduces the complexity of the 3D numerical model. Hence, the computation time associated with the time-consuming Monte Carlo modelling of neutron transport is considerably reduced. Example results comprise the time evolutions of the effective neutron multiplication factor and fissionable isotopes (233U, 235U, 239Pu, 241Pu) for a few configurations of the initial reactor core.

Author(s):  
Maria Elizabeth Scari ◽  
Antonella Lombardi Costa ◽  
Claubia Pereira ◽  
Clarysson Alberto Mello da Silva ◽  
Maria Auxiliadora Fortini Veloso

Several efforts have been considered in the development of the modular High Temperature Gas cooled Reactor (HTGR) planned to be a safe and efficient nuclear energy source for the production of electricity and industrial applications. In this work, the RELAP5-3D thermal hydraulic code was used to simulate the steady state behavior of the 10 MW pebble bed high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTR-10), designed, constructed and operated by the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), in China. The reactor core is cooled by helium gas. In the simulation, results of temperature distribution within the pebble bed, inlet and outlet coolant temperatures, coolant mass flow, and others parameters have been compared with the data available in a benchmark document published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2013. This initial study demonstrates that the RELAP5-3D model is capable to reproduce the thermal behavior of the HTR-10.


Author(s):  
Zhe Dong ◽  
Xiaojin Huang ◽  
Liangju Zhang

The modular high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor (MHTGR) is seen as one of the best candidates for the next generation of nuclear power plants. China began to research the MHTGR technology at the end of the 1970s, and a 10 MWth pebble-bed high temperature reactor HTR-10 has been built. On the basis of the design and operation of the HTR-10, the high temperature gas-cooled reactor pebble-bed module (HTR-PM) project is proposed. One of the main differences between the HTR-PM and HTR-10 is that the ratio of height to diameter corresponding to the core of the HTR-PM is much larger than that of the HTR-10. Therefore it is not proper to use the point kinetics based model for control system design and verification. Motivated by this, a nodal neutron kinetics model for the HTR-PM is derived, and the corresponding nodal thermal-hydraulic model is also established. This newly developed nodal model can reflect not only the total or average information but also the distribution information such as the power distribution as well. Numerical simulation results show that the static precision of the new core model is satisfactory, and the trend of the transient responses is consistent with physical rules.


Author(s):  
Shaojie Luo ◽  
Lei Shi ◽  
Shutang Zhu

In order to provide a convenient tool for engineering designed, safety analysis, operator training and control system design of the high temperature gas-cooled test reactor (HTR), an integrated system for simulation, control and online assistance of the HTR-10 has been designed and is still under development by the Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology (INET) of Tsinghua University in China. The whole system is based on a network environment and includes three subsystems: the simulation subsystem (SIMUSUB), the visualized control designed subsystem (VCDSUB) and the online assistance subsystem (OASUB). The SIMUSUB consists of four parts: the simulation calculating server (SCS), the main control client (MCC), the data disposal client (DDC) and the results graphic display client (RGDC), all of which can communicate each other via network. The SIMUSUB is intended to analyze and calculate the physical processes of the reactor core, the main loop system and the stream generator, etc., as well as to simulate the normal operation and transient accidents, and the result data can be graphically displayed through the RGDC dynamically. The VCDSUB provides a platform for control system modeling where the control flow systems can be automatically generated and graphically simulated. Based on the data from the field bus, the OASUB provides some of the reactor core parameter, which are difficult to measure. This whole system can be used as an educational tool to understand the design and operational characteristics of the HTR-10, and can also provide online supports for operators in the main control room, or as a convenient powerful tool for the control system design.


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