Development of unstructured mesh-based numerical method for sodium-water reaction phenomenon in steam generators of sodium-cooled fast reactors

Uchibori, Akihiro; Watanabe, Akira*; Takata, Takashi; Ohshima, Hiroyuki

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 54(10), p.1036 - 1045, 2017/10

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2017.1344155

To evaluate a sodium-water reaction phenomenon in a steam generator of sodium-cooled fast reactors, a computational fluid dynamics code SERAPHIM, in which a compressible multicomponent multiphase flow with sodium-water chemical reaction is computed, has been developed. The original SERAPHIM code is based on the difference method. In this study, unstructured mesh-based numerical method was developed to advance a numerical accuracy for the complex-shaped domain including multiple heat transfer tubes. Numerical analysis of an underexpanded jet experiment was performed as part of validation of the unstructured mesh-based numerical method. The calculated pressure profile showed good agreement with the experimental data. Applicability of the numerical method for the actual situation was confirmed through the analysis of water vapor discharging into liquid sodium. The effect of use of the unstructured mesh was also investigated by the two analyses using structured and unstructured mesh.