CFD simulation of a particle loaded coolant flow in the sump and in the condensation chamber

A collaborative project funded by the BMBF in the framework of the R and D program ''Energie 2020+'' by 4 Universities, 2 Research Centres and ANSYS was coordinated by Helmholtz- Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The present report describes the contributions of HZDR done from September 2009 to January 2013. The project was directed towards the development and validation of CFD models of boiling processes in PWR in the range from subcooled nucleate boiling up to the critical heat flux. The report describes the developed and used models. Main achievements were a comprehensive study of the boiling process itself and a better description of the interfacial area by coupling of wall boiling with a population balance model. The model extensions are validated and the present capabilities of CFD for wall boiling are investigated. By means of rod bundle experiments was shown that the measured cross sectional averaged values can be reproduced well with a single set of calibrated model parameters for different tests cases. For the reproduction of patterns of void distribution cross sections attention has to be focussed on the modelling of turbulence in the narrow channel. The experimental work was focussed on the investigation of the flow in a rod bundle. Using a rod bundle test rig the turbulent single phase flow field (PIV) and the average gas volume fraction (gamma densitometry) are measured. The timely and spatial resolved gas fraction was measured applying the ''High speed x-ray tomography'', developed in Rossendorf.