Nuclear thermal-hydraulics (Centre d'étude nucléaire-Mol)

Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.

5 credits

40.0 h + 7.5 h

Teacher(s)

Bartosiewicz Yann;

Language

English

Main themes

Reactor heat generation
Transport equations (single-phase & two-phase flow)
Thermal analysis of fuel elements
(Single-phase fluid mechanics and heat transfer)'usually already known
Two-phase flow dynamics
Two-phase heat transfer
Single heated channel; steady state analysis
Single heated channel; transient analysis
Flow loops
Utilisation of established codes and introduction to advanced topics (modelling and thermalhydraulics for GEN4 reactors)

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	To be familiarised with various reactor types and their main design and operational characteristics To learn how to estimate the volumetric heat generation rate in fission reactor cores under normal operation and shutdown conditions To learn how to analyse the thermal performance of nuclear fuel elements To learn the basic fluid mechanics of single phase reactor cooling systems To learn to calculate pressure drop in reactor systems, including tube bundles, and spacer grids To learn to analyse the heat transfer characteristics of single phase reactor cooling systems To learn the basic fluid mechanics of two-phase systems, including flow regime maps, void-quality relations, pressure drop, and critical flow To learn the fundamentals of boiling heat transfer, and its implications for reactor design To learn the fundamentals of core thermal design, with attention to design uncertainty analysis and hot channel factors.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

Lect. 1: Thermal design principles
Lect. 2: Reactor energy distribution
Lect. 3: Transport eqns. For 1-phase flow: Reminders/summary
Lect. 4: Tranport eqns. For 2-phase flows:basic formulation
Lect. 5: Tranport eqns. For 2-phase flows:equations
Lect. 6: Thermodynamics, cycles: non-flow and steady flow
Lect. 7: Thermodynamics, cycles: non steady flow first law
Lect. 8: Thermal analysis of fuel elements
Lect. 9: 1-phase fluid mechanics/heat transfer: Reminders/summary
Lect. 10: 2-phase fluid mechanics/pressure drops
Lect. 11: 2-phase fluid mechanics/pressure drops
Lect. 12: 2-phase heat transfer (pool boiling)
Lect. 13: 2-phase heat transfer (flow boiling)
Lect. 14: Single-heated channel: steady state analysis
Lect. 15: Flow loops

Teaching methods

30h of ex catedra lectures
14h of supervised personnal work
24h of supervised exercice sessions

The course takes place at the Nuclear Research Centre of Belgium (SCK.CEN) in gthe framework of the BNEN interuniversity programme (see: http://bnen.sckcen.be).
Courses taking place at SCK.CEN are condensed over a period of 2 intensive weeks of courses.

Evaluation methods

Project (45%): set up a simulation tools to calculate the pressure drop in a boiling channel under different conditions
Exam (55%): closed book. 4h. Understanding/theory/exercice

Online resources

http://bnen.sckcen.be

Bibliography

Todreas, N.E. and Kazimi, M.S. Nuclear System I: Thermal Hydraulic Fundamentals, CRC Press, 2012.
Todreas, N. E. and Kazimi, M.S. Nuclear Systems II: Elements of Thermal Hydraulic Design, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New York, 1990.

REFERENCE BOOKS ON THE CONTENT

Todreas, N.E. and Kazimi, M.S. Nuclear System I: Thermal Hydraulic Fundamentals, CRC Press, 2012. Mandatory.
Todreas, N. E. and Kazimi, M.S. Nuclear Systems II: Elements of Thermal Hydraulic Design, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New York, 1990. Advised.

Teaching materials

Todreas, N.E. and Kazimi, M.S. Nuclear System I: Thermal Hydraulic Fundamentals, CRC Press, 2012.
Todreas, N. E. and Kazimi, M.S. Nuclear Systems II: Elements of Thermal Hydraulic Design, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New York, 1990.

Faculty or entity

MECA

Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme

Sigle

Credits

Prerequisites

Aims

Master [120] in Electro-mechanical Engineering

ELME2M

Master [120] in Mechanical Engineering

MECA2M