On the Application of CFD Modeling for the Prediction of the Degree of Mixing in a PWR During a Boron Dilution Transient

In a Pressurized Water Reactor, negative reactivity is present in the core by means of Boric acid as a soluble neutron absorber in the coolant water. During a so-called Boron Dilution Transient (BDT), a de-borated slug of coolant water is transported from the cold leg into the reactor vessel, and the borated coolant water is diluted by mixing with this un-borated water. The resulting decrease in the boron concentration leads to an insertion of positive reactivity in the core, which may lead to a reactivity excursion. The associated power peak may damage the fuel rods. The mixing of borated and un-borated water in downcomer and lower plenum is an important process, because it mitigates the degree of reactivity insertion. In the present study the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for the prediction of this mixing of un-borated with borated water in the RPV has been assessed. The analyses have been compared with the measurement data from the Rossendorf coolant mixing model (ROCOM) experiment. The ROCOM test facility represents the primary cooling system of a KONVOI type of PWR (1300 MWel). In spite of the complicated spatial, temporal, and geometrical aspects of the flow in the RPV, the agreement between the calculated and the experimental data is good. The CFD model tends to slightly under predict the degree of mixing in the RPV resulting in a slight under-prediction of the boron concentration at the core. (authors)