TY - JOUR
T1 - Direct Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer in a 7-Pin Wire-Wrapped Rod Bundle
AU - Bourdot Dutra, Carolina
AU - Aldeia Machado, Luiz
AU - Merzari, Elia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Nuclear Society.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - The Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is a promising concept chosen in the Generation IV International Forum as a possible design for pursuing the sustainable use of nuclear energy. Its core consists of multiple hydraulically isolated assemblies, with a tightly packed triangular lattice array of fuel pins enclosed in a hexagonal duct present within each assembly. Helical wire spacers are wrapped along the axis of the rods to maintain a gap between them, inducing a secondary flow, increasing the channel mixing, and enhancing convective heat transfer. In this study, a direct numerical simulation campaign is conducted for a simplified 7-pin wire wrapper geometry, with Reynolds numbers ranging from (Formula presented.) = 1000 to 10 000 and a Prandtl number of (Formula presented.) = 0.005, to investigate heat transfer in low-flow conditions. The wire wrapper case is compared to a bare bundle case with seven pins. The results are discussed, and heat transfer predictions are compared between our numerical results and classic correlations. An anisotropy invariant map is obtained for the above-mentioned cases, and turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent heat flux budgets are computed and analyzed. Our findings provide unique insights into the flow behavior within a wire-wrapped bundle.
AB - The Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is a promising concept chosen in the Generation IV International Forum as a possible design for pursuing the sustainable use of nuclear energy. Its core consists of multiple hydraulically isolated assemblies, with a tightly packed triangular lattice array of fuel pins enclosed in a hexagonal duct present within each assembly. Helical wire spacers are wrapped along the axis of the rods to maintain a gap between them, inducing a secondary flow, increasing the channel mixing, and enhancing convective heat transfer. In this study, a direct numerical simulation campaign is conducted for a simplified 7-pin wire wrapper geometry, with Reynolds numbers ranging from (Formula presented.) = 1000 to 10 000 and a Prandtl number of (Formula presented.) = 0.005, to investigate heat transfer in low-flow conditions. The wire wrapper case is compared to a bare bundle case with seven pins. The results are discussed, and heat transfer predictions are compared between our numerical results and classic correlations. An anisotropy invariant map is obtained for the above-mentioned cases, and turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent heat flux budgets are computed and analyzed. Our findings provide unique insights into the flow behavior within a wire-wrapped bundle.
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U2 - 10.1080/00295639.2023.2246778
DO - 10.1080/00295639.2023.2246778
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85174158703
SN - 0029-5639
VL - 198
SP - 1439
EP - 1454
JO - Nuclear Science and Engineering
JF - Nuclear Science and Engineering
IS - 7
ER -