The Addition of Noncondensable Gases into RELAP5-3D for Analysis of High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors

Oxygen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide have been added to the RELAP5-3D computer code as noncondensable gases to support analysis of high temperature gas-cooled reactors. Models of these gases are required to simulate the effects of air ingress on graphite oxidation following a loss-of-coolant accident. Correlations were developed for specific internal energy, thermal conductivity, and viscosity for each gas at temperatures up to 3000 K. The existing model for internal energy (a quadratic function of temperature) was not sufficiently accurate at these high temperatures and was replaced by a more general, fourth-order polynomial. The maximum deviation between the correlations and the underlying data was 2.2% for the specific internal energy and 7% for the specific heat capacity at constant volume. The maximum deviation in the transport properties was 4% for oxygen and carbon monoxide and 12% for carbon dioxide.