Preliminary calculation on thermal stratification phenomena in the fundamental sodium experiment "SuperCAVNA"

Ezure, Toshiki ; Nagasawa, Kazuyoshi*; Tanaka, Masaaki  

To establish an evaluation method of thermal stratification in sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs), a benchmark exercise was performed for a sodium experiment (SuperCAVNA) with a rectangular test section and heated wall. This paper presents a preliminary result using three-dimensional finite differential code AQUA. The influences of mesh size for heat exchange and turbulence model are studied, and the calculation results were also compared to the experimental results in the literature. Then, the calculation results reproduced the thermal stratification in SuperCAVNA experiment. The position and the temperature gradient of the stratified surface also showed good agreement with the experimental result. The applicability of the numerical approach employed in this study for the evaluation of thermal stratification problem in SFRs was confirmed.