Simulation of Multiphase Heat Transfer in Pebble Bed Modular Reactor

Computational Fluid Dynamics in conjunction with an Eulerian multiphase model of heat transfer in a Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) was validated against experimental data obtained in a test rig. The cooling gas and packed fuel pebbles constituted two phases. The velocity of pebble phase was fixed to zero and a drag law accounting for a packed bed condition was used. The density of the gas phase varied with temperature. Volume averaged effective thermal conductivities accounting for radiation and packed spheres geometry were used for both phases. Model predictions compared favorably with the experiment for two gases — helium and nitrogen and two power levels. It was found that accounting for increased affective porosity close to walls results in more realistic velocity field prediction.