COBRAG subchannel analysis of BWR fuel thermal hydraulic performance

Belgacem Hizoum, Jens Andersen, Asuka Sakouda, Scott Bowman

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper describes the developmental testing and validation of the COBRAG. The development testing involved comparison to separate effects test with simple geometries involving only one or two of the physical phenomena. These tests provided data on pressure drop, void fraction, film flow and entrainment. Some refinements were made to the basic models (Void drift, mixing, and interfacial shear factor) in COBRAG during the development testing in order to improve the prediction of the observed trends in the data. The validation included a comprehensive set of comparisons to bundle void fraction, pressure drop and critical power data. The basic approach is that COBRAG should be able to predict void fraction, pressure drop and critical power for a range of fuel designs and thermal hydraulic conditions while using a consistent set of model assumptions and inputs. The results presented in this paper demonstrates excellent agreement with the data and that the above goal is met. The main application of COBRAG is to complement the available test data and to benchmark and provide input to simpler methods used in design. As an example on such an application, COBRAG has been used to benchmark GEH's design correlations for void fraction, which is used in nuclear design and safety analyses. The benchmarking has shown that the void correlation, which was developed from first principles using simple geometry data and multi-rod data ranging from 3x3 to 8x8 bundles, accurately predicts the void fraction for current 10x10 fuel designs.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLWR Fuel Performance Meeting/Top Fuel/WRFPM 2010
Pages668-680
Number of pages13
StatePublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes
EventLWR Fuel Performance Meeting/Top Fuel/WRFPM 2010 - Orlando, FL, United States
Duration: Sep 26 2010Sep 29 2010

Publication series

NameLWR Fuel Performance Meeting/Top Fuel/WRFPM 2010

Conference

ConferenceLWR Fuel Performance Meeting/Top Fuel/WRFPM 2010
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityOrlando, FL
Period09/26/1009/29/10

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