Presentazioni e Articoli Tecnici

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of the coupled thermo-hydrodynamics and neutronics of circulating nuclear fuel systems in a nuclear reactor that adopts a molten salt mixture. This flows up through channels in a graphite moderated core and plays the role of both heat generator and coolant.

A strongly coupled system is needed since the velocity pattern is affected by the neutron dynamics via the heat source from fission reactions, whereas the neutronic behavior is affected by the thermo-hydrodynamics via the motion of precursors.

In this complex environment, featured by a highly non linear regime and a wide disparity of time scales, COMSOL Multiphysics® has been successfully employed to investigate the system behavior both in steady state and transient conditions.