Numerical simulation of two-phase flow in fuel assemblies with a spacer grid using a mechanistically based method

Ono, Ayako; Yamashita, Susumu; Suzuki, Takayuki*; Yoshida, Hiroyuki

Proceedings of 19th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-19) (Internet), 16 Pages, 2022/03

JAEA is developing the methodology to predict the critical heat flux based on a mechanism in order to reduce the cost for full mock-up test. The evaluation method based on a mechanism is expected to be able to predict in the wide range of parameter under the unexpected conditions including the severe accident. In this study, the JUPITER code developed by JAEA is examined to apply for the two-phase flow simulation of LWR fuel assembly with the spacer grid. The benchmark data of single-phase flow in the bundle with the spacers by KAERI were used to validate the simulation result by JUPITER. Moreover, the single-phase flow simulation was conducted by another simulation method, STAR-CCM+, as a supplemental analysis to consider the effect of the different simulation methods. Finally, the two-phase flow simulation for the bundle with the spacer was conducted by JUPITER. The effect of the spacer with a vane on the bubble behavior is discussed.

Flow regime and void fraction predictions in vertical rod bundle flow channels

Han, X.*; Shen, X.*; Yamamoto, Toshihiro*; Nakajima, Ken*; Sun, Haomin; Hibiki, Takashi*

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 178, p.121637_1 - 121637_24, 2021/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2021.121637

Numerical simulation of microparticles motion in two-phase bubbly flow

Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Uesawa, Shinichiro

Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE2020-16393

Development of numerical simulation method for small particles behavior in two-phase flow by combining interface and Lagrangian particle tracking methods

Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Uesawa, Shinichiro; Horiguchi, Naoki; Miyahara, Naoya; Ose, Yasuo*

Proceedings of 11th Korea-Japan Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS-11) (Internet), 6 Pages, 2018/11

Online coupling of two-phase flow solvent extraction microfluidics with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Do, V. K.; Yamamoto, Masahiko; Taguchi, Shigeo; Kuno, Takehiko; Surugaya, Naoki

Current Analytical Chemistry, 14(2), p.111 - 119, 2018/00

https://doi.org/10.2174/1573411013666170421121927

A direct coupling of two-phase flow solvent extraction microfluidics with ICP-MS for element-selective analysis is successfully established. Two-phase flow in microchannels of two combined glass chips for continuous extraction and back-extraction is stabilized through balancing the pressure by using an external coiled tube that functions as a flow resistor. The difference of fluid flow rate between microchannels and ICP-MS is adjusted by a proposed interface system including T-junction mixer and a switching valve. An online measurement of rhenium is successfully demonstrated. The calibration curve for Re is carried out in the range of 1 g/L to 20 g/L. The limit of detection is 0.2 g/L with a needed sample volume of one milliliter. Total time including extraction, back-extraction, and measurement is less than one hour. The development of the online coupling is a first step towards future applications to the selective measurement of highly radioactive elements.

Multi-dimensional gas-liquid two-phase flow in vertical large-diameter channels

Shen, X.*; Schlegel, J. P.*; Hibiki, Takashi*; Nakamura, Hideo

Proceedings of 2017 Japan-US Seminar on Two-Phase Flow Dynamics (JUS 2017), 6 Pages, 2017/06

Gas-liquid bubbly flow structure in a vertical large-diameter square duct

Shen, X.*; Sun, Haomin; Deng, B.*; Hibiki, Takashi*; Nakamura, Hideo

Progress in Nuclear Energy, 89, p.140 - 158, 2016/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2016.02.014

An experimental study was performed on the local structure of upward air-water two-phase flow in a vertical large diameter square duct by using a four-sensor probe. The four-sensor probe method classifying spherical and non-spherical bubbles was applied as a key measurement way to obtain local parameters such as 3-D bubble velocity vector, bubble diameter and interfacial area concentration. Both the local void fraction and interfacial area concentration indicated radial core-peak and wall-peak distributions at low and high liquid flow rates respectively. The 2 components of the bubble velocity vector in the cross-section revealed that there exists a rotating secondary flow in the octant symmetric triangular area and the magnitude of the rotating secondary flow increases with the liquid flow rate. Some of constitutive correlations of drift-flux model and interfacial area concentration are reviewed to study their predictabilities against the present data.

Numerical simulation of self-priming phenomena in venturi scrubber by two-phase flow simulation code TPFIT

Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Kanagawa, Tetsuya*; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*

Proceedings of 23rd International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-23) (DVD-ROM), 6 Pages, 2015/05

From the viewpoint of protecting containment and suppressing diffusion of the radioactive materials at severe accidents of nuclear power plant, it is important to install filtered venting devices to permit release of high pressure pollutant gas to the atmosphere by eliminating radioactive materials in the gas. A Multi Venturi Scrubber System (MVSS) is one of the devices for the filtered venting, and is used to realize filtered venting without any power supply. The MVSS is composed of a "Venturi Scrubbers" part and a "bubble column" part. In the Venturi Scrubbers part of the MVSS, there are hundreds of the Venturi scrubbers (VS). In an operation mode of the MVSS, the radioactive materials are eliminated through the gas-liquid interface from the pollutant gas to the liquid phase of a dispersed flow in the VS and a bubbly flow in the bubble column part. In the VS, the dispersed flow is formed from the liquid, which is suctioned through the hole for suction (called self-priming). In previous studies, an evaluation method to evaluate the liquid flow rate by the self-priming was developed. However, to develop evaluation methods of performance of the VSs, the two-phase flow behavior must be investigated, including droplet size and velocity difference of liquid and gas phases. Two-phase flow behavior in the VS is complicated, and it is difficult to estimate two-phase flow behavior of the VS by only experimental procedures. In this study, to investigate the hydraulic behavior of the VS, we tried to apply a detailed numerical simulation method of two-phase flow to the numerical simulation of the VS. In the simulation, TPFIT developed in JAEA was used as the detailed numerical simulation method. In this paper, we performed the numerical simulation air-water two-phase flow in the of the lab scale VS by the TPFIT, and numerical results were compared with experimental results.

Development of evaluation method of liquid flow rate by self-priming phenomena in venturi scrubber

Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Kanagawa, Tetsuya*; Kaneko, Akiko*; Abe, Yutaka*

Proceedings of 9th Korea-Japan Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety (NTHAS-9) (CD-ROM), 5 Pages, 2014/11

Current status of thermal/hydraulic feasibility project for reduced-moderation water reactor, 2; Development of two-phase flow simulation code with advanced interface tracking method

Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Tamai, Hidesada; Onuki, Akira; Takase, Kazuyuki; Akimoto, Hajime

Nuclear Engineering and Technology, 38(2), p.119 - 128, 2006/04

The reduced-moderation water reactor core adopts a hexagonal tight-lattice arrangement. In the core, there is no sufficient information about the effects of the gap spacing and grid spacer configuration on the flow characteristics. Thus, we start to develop a predictable technology for thermal-hydraulic performance of the core using an advanced numerical simulation technology. As a part of this technology development, we are developing a two-phase flow simulation code TPFIT with an advanced interface tracking method. The vector and parallelization of the code was conducted to fit the large-scale simulations. The numerical results applied to large-scale water-vapor two-phase flow in tight lattice rod bundles are shown and compared with experimental results. In the results, a tendency of the predicted void fraction distribution in horizontal plane agreed with the measured values including the bridge formation of the liquid at the position of adjacent fuel rods where an interval is the narrowest.