One-dimensional Analysis of Thermal Stratification in the AHTR Coolant Pool

It is important to accurately predict the temperature and density distributions in large stratified enclosures both for design optimization and accident analysis. Current reactor system analysis codes only provide lumped-volume based models that can give very approximate results. Previous scaling analysis has shown that stratified mixing processes in large stably stratified enclosures can be described using one-dimensional differential equations, with the vertical transport by jets modeled using integral techniques. This allows very large reductions in computational effort compared to three-dimensional CFD simulation. The BMIX++ (Berkeley mechanistic MIXing code in C++) code was developed to implement such ideas. This paper summarizes major models for the BMIX++ code, presents the two-plume mixing experiment simulation as one validation example, and describes the codes' application to the liquid salt buffer pool system in the AHTR (Advanced High Temperature Reactor) design. Three design options have been simulated and they exhibit significantly different stratification patterns. One of design options shows the mildest thermal stratification and is identified as the best design option. This application shows that the BMIX++ code has capability to provide the reactor designers with insights to understand complex mixing behavior with mechanistic methods. Similar analysis is possible for liquid-metal cooled reactors