Numerical simulation of the target system of an ADSS

Abstract

The study of thermal-hydraulic issues related to target module of an accelerator driven sub-critical nuclear reactor system (ADSS) play a crucial role in its design. For this, one needs to analyze laminar/turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics of lead bismuth eutectic (LBE), target cum coolant liquid, at low Prandtl number in the target system of an ADSS. In this work, equations governing conservation of mass, momentum and energy together with equations for kinetic energy and its dissipation rate are solved numerically using streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG)-finite element (FE) method in a two-dimensional axisymmetric ADSS target system. The transfer of kinetic energy and its dissipation rate are modeled using standard k-ε equations with the wall function approach. The complex target module comprises a 180° turn-around flow along a straight flow guide and a window interfacing the proton beam interaction with LBE. The principal purpose of the analysis is to trace the flow structure in the domain and the temperature distribution on the window. Increasing flow rate to turbulent regime is seen to minimize the number of re-circulation or stagnation zones that may lead to the development of hot spots in the flow domain.