Numerical study of initiating phase of core disruptive accident in small sodium-cooled fast reactors with negative void reactivity

Ishida, Shinya; Fukano, Yoshitaka; Tobita, Yoshiharu; Okano, Yasushi

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 13 Pages, 2023/00

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2023.2243949

A 3D particle-based simulation of heat and mass transfer behavior in the EAGLE ID1 in-pile test

Zhang, T.*; Morita, Koji*; Liu, X.*; Liu, W.*; Kamiyama, Kenji

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 179, p.109389_1 - 109389_10, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109389

Analysis on cooling behavior for simulated molten core material impinging to a horizontal plate in a sodium pool

Matsushita, Hatsuki*; Kobayashi, Ren*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Kato, Shinya; Matsuba, Kenichi; Kamiyama, Kenji

Proceedings of 13th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-13) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2022/09

During core disruptive accidents in sodium-cooled fast reactors, the molten core material flows through flow channels, such as the control rod guide tubes, into the core inlet plenum under the core region. The molten core material can be cooled and solidified while impinging on a horizontal plate of the inlet plenum in a sodium coolant. However, the solidification and cooling behaviors of molten core materials impinged on a horizontal structure have not been sufficiently studied thus far. Notably, this is an important phenomenon that needs to be elucidated from the perspective of improving the safety of sodium-cooled fast reactors. Accordingly, a series of experiments on discharging a simulated molten core material (alumina: AlO) into a sodium coolant on a horizontal structure was conducted at the experimental facility of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In this study, analyses on the sodium experiments using SIMMER-III as the fast reactor safety evaluation code were performed. The analysis methods were validated by comparing the results and experiment data. In addition, the cooling and solidification behaviors during jet impingement were evaluated. The results indicated that the molten core material exhibited fragmentation owing to the impingement on the horizontal plate and was, therefore, scattered toward the periphery. Furthermore, the simulated molten core material was evaluated to be cooled by sodium and subsequently solidified.

A 3D particle-based analysis of molten pool-to-structural wall heat transfer in a simulated fuel subassembly

Zhang, T.*; Morita, Koji*; Liu, X.*; Liu, W.*; Kamiyama, Kenji

Extended abstracts of the 2nd Asian Conference on Thermal Sciences (Internet), 2 Pages, 2021/10

For the Japanese sodium cooled fast reactor, a fuel subassembly with an inner duct structure (FAIDUS) was designed to avoid the re-criticality by preventing the large-scale pool formation. In the present study, using the finite volume particle method, the EAGLE ID1 test which was an in-pile test performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of FAIDUS was numerically simulated and the thermal-hydraulic mechanisms underlying the heat transfer process were analyzed.

The EAGLE Project to Enhance Safety of Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor

Kamiyama, Kenji

Human Energy Atom, 2021(2), p.30 - 35, 2021/00

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has agreed to the research cooperation on the core safety of sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) with the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NNC-RK), and it has been going on for over 20 years. This research cooperation is called the EAGLE project, which is an advanced and challenging research program utilizing the facilities of NNC-RK. The background and outline of this EAGLE program, as well as the implementation status and major achievements so far, are introduced here.

Particle-based simulation of heat transfer behavior in EAGLE ID1 in-pile test

Morita, Koji*; Ogawa, Ryusei*; Tokioka, Hiromi*; Liu, X.*; Liu, W.*; Kamiyama, Kenji

Proceedings of 12th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-12) (USB Flash Drive), 11 Pages, 2018/10

The EAGLE in-pile ID1 test has been performed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency to demonstrate early fuel discharge from a fuel subassembly with an inner duct structure, which is named FAIDUS. It was deduced that early duct wall failure observed in the test was initiated by high heat flux from the molten pool of fuel and steel mixture. The posttest analyses suggest that molten pool-to-duct wall heat transfer might be enhanced effectively by the molten steel with large thermal conductivity in the pool without the presence of fuel crust on the duct wall. In this study, mechanisms of heat transfer from the molten pool to the duct wall was analyzed using a fully Lagrangian approach based on the finite volume particle method for multi-component, multi-phase flows. A series of pin disruption, molten pool formation and duct wall failure behaviors was simulated to investigate mixing and separation behavior of molten steel and fuel in the pool, and their effect on molten pool-to-duct wall heat transfer. The present 2D particle-based simulations demonstrated that large thermal load beyond 10 MW/m on the duct wall was caused by effective heat transfer due to direct contact of liquid fuel with nuclear heat to the duct wall.

Experimental investigation on characteristics of mixed particle debris in sedimentation and bed formation behavior

Sheikh, M. A. R.*; Son, E.*; Kamiyama, Motoki*; Morioka, Toru*; Matsumoto, Tatsuya*; Morita, Koji*; Matsuba, Kenichi; Kamiyama, Kenji; Suzuki, Toru

Proceedings of 11th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-11) (USB Flash Drive), 12 Pages, 2016/10

This paper reports an experimental evaluation on debris bed formation characteristics in core-disruptive accidents cogitating the heterogeneous mixture of particles. In the present study, to appraise the characteristics, a series of experiments was accomplished by gravity driven discharge of solid binary mixtures of particles as simulant debris from a nozzle into a quiescent water pool in isothermal condition at room temperature. Currently, two types of spherical particles, namely Alumina and stainless steel with different diameter are employed to study the effect of key experimental parameters on bed mound shape. In experimental investigation both convex and concave mound shapes were perceived based on the effect of particle size and nozzle diameter. The present outcomes could be useful to validate numerical models and simulation codes of particulate debris sedimentation.

Experimental discussion on fragmentation mechanism of molten oxide discharged into a sodium pool

Matsuba, Kenichi; Kamiyama, Kenji; Toyooka, Junichi; Tobita, Yoshiharu; Zuev, V. A.*; Kolodeshnikov, A. A.*; Vasilyev, Y. S.*

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

To develop a method for evaluating the distance for fragmentation of molten core material discharged into sodium, the particle size distribution of alumina debris obtained in the FR tests was analyzed. The mass median diameters of solidified alumina particles were around 0.4 mm, which are comparable to particle sizes predicted by hydrodynamic instability theories such as Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. However, even though hydrodynamic instability theories predict that particle size decreases with an increase of Weber number, such the dependence of particle size on We was not observed in the FR tests. It can be interpreted that the tendency of measured mass median diameters (i.e., non-dependence on Weber number) suggests that before hydrodynamic instabilities sufficiently grow to induce fragmentation, thermal phenomena such as local coolant vaporization and resultant vapor expansion accelerate fragmentation.

Distance for fragmentation of a simulated molten-core material discharged into a sodium pool

Matsuba, Kenichi; Isozaki, Mikio; Kamiyama, Kenji; Suzuki, Toru; Tobita, Yoshiharu

Proceedings of 10th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-10) (USB Flash Drive), 7 Pages, 2014/12

In order to develop an evaluation method of the distance for fragmentation of molten core material discharged into the sodium plenum, a sodium experiment with visual observation was conducted using an X-ray imaging system. In the current experiments, 0.9 kg of molten aluminum (initial temperature: around 1473 K) was discharged into a sodium pool (initial temperature: 673 K) through a nozzle (inner diameter: 20 mm). Based on the experimental results, the distance for fragmentation of the liquid column was estimated to be 100 mm in the experiments. Through the sodium experiment, useful knowledge was obtained for the future development of an evaluation method of the distance for fragmentation of molten core material. As a next step, sodium experiments using higher-density molten materials will be conducted to enrich the experimental knowledge. Besides, a new semi-empirical correlation will be developed to evaluate more appropriately the distance for fragmentation under CDA conditions.

Particle-based simulation on heat transfer behavior between molten pool and duct wall in EAGLE ID1 and ID2 in-pile tests

Zhang, T.*; Morita, Koji*; Liu, X.*; Liu, W.*; Kamiyama, Kenji

no journal, ,