High-Fidelity Steady-State and Transient Simulations of an MTR Research Reactor Using Serpent2/Subchanflow

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 15; no. 4; p. 1554
• Main Authors: Almachi, Juan Carlos, Sánchez-Espinoza, Víctor Hugo, Imke, Uwe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-02-2022
• Subjects: Codes; Finite volume method; Heat; high-fidelity; Hydraulics; MTR; Nuclear safety; Physics; plate-fuel; Power reactors; Reactor safety; Reactors; RIA; Serpent2/Subchanflow; Simulation; subchannel; Temperature dependence; Temperature distribution
• DOI: 10.3390/en15041554
• EISSN: 1996-1073

In order to join efforts to develop high-fidelity multi-physics tools for research reactor analysis, the KIT is conducting studies to modify the coupled multi-physics codes developed for power reactors. The coupled system uses the Monte Carlo Serpent 2 code for neutron analysis and the Subchanflow code for thermo-hydraulic analysis. Serpent treats temperature dependence using the target motion sampling method and Subchanflow was previously extended and validated with experimental data for plate-type reactor analysis. This work present for the first time the steady-state and transient neutron and thermo-hydraulic analysis of an MTR core defined in the IAEA 10 MW benchmark using Serpent2/Subchanflow. Important global and local parameters for nominal steady-state conditions were obtained, e.g., the lowest and highest core plate/channel power/temperature, the radial and axial core power profile at the plate level, and the core coolant temperature distribution at the subchannel level. The capabilities of Serpent2/Subchanflow to perform transient analysis with on-the-fly motion of the control plates were tested, namely with fast and slow reactivity insertion. Based on the unique results obtained for the first time at the subchannel and plate level, it can be stated that the coupled Serpent2/Subchanflow code is a very promising tool for research reactor safety-related investigations.