Thermal-hydraulic characteristics of reacting zone for TWR bundles based on CFD method

Thermal-hydraulic characteristics of reacting zone for TWR (travelling wave reactor) bundles were analysed by CFD method. The calculation results of 7, 19 and 37 fuel pin bundles show the similar characteristics. The hot coolant seems to congregate into the centre as flowing to the downstream area. The high temperature coolant always distributes in the inner area while the temperature shows distinct gradation in the outer area. The temperature difference is more than 100 ℃ for the bundle whose diameter is about 26 cm. The major temperature gradations mainly locate in the outermost fuel rods of two circles while other circles show much smaller temperature gradients. This conclusion is estimated to be true for more fuel pin bundles such as 217 fuel pin bundles. The fuel assembly structure of the existing TWR design should be optimized in future. (authors)