Sensitivity study on a CFD model for the analysis of moderator fluid flow and heat transfer inside CANDU calandria

In this paper, sensitivity study on a CFD model for the accurate analysis of moderator fluid flow and heat transfer inside calandria is conducted. Two main items, i.e. porous medium assumption and turbulence model, are considered for in-line tube bank and Sheridan Park Engineering Laboratory (SPEL) experiment. Using the commercial flow solver, FLUENT, the prediction to consider the real geometry of fuel channels is compared to previous results conducted with the porous medium assumption using the isotropic pressure loss model. Also, the prediction performance of various turbulence models (e.g. k-ε model, Reynolds stress model, etc.) is assessed. (author)