Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

BOTANI: High-fidelity multiphysics model for boron chemistry in CRUD deposits

2020; Elsevier BV; Volume: 53; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.net.2020.11.008

2234-358X

Seungjin Seo, Byunggi Park, Sung Joong Kim, Ho Cheol Shin, Seo Jeong Lee, Minho Lee, Sungyeol Choi,

Nuclear reactor physics and engineering

We develop a new high-fidelity multiphysics model to simulate boron chemistry in the porous Chalk River Unidentified Deposit (CRUD) deposits. Heat transfer, capillary flow, solute transport, and chemical reactions are fully coupled. The evaporation of coolant in the deposits is included in governing equations modified by the volume-averaged assumption of wick boiling. The axial offset anomaly (AOA) of the Seabrook nuclear power plant is simulated. The new model reasonably predicts the distributions of temperature, pressure, velocity, volumetric boiling heat density, and chemical concentrations. In the thicker CRUD regions, 60% of the total heat is removed by evaporative heat transfer, causing boron species accumulation. The new model successfully shows the quantitative effect of coolant evaporation on the local distributions of boron. The total amount of boron in the CRUD layer increases by a factor of 1.21 when an evaporation-driven increase of soluble and precipitated boron concentrations is reflected. In addition, the concentrations of B(OH)3 and LiBO2 are estimated according to various conditions such as different CRUD thickness and porosity. At the end of the cycle in the AOA case, the total mass of boron incorporated in CRUD deposits of a reference single fuel rod is estimated to be about 0.5 mg.