Computational Methodology of Sodium-Water Reaction Phenomenon in Steam Generator of Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor

Abstract

A new computational methodology of sodium-water reaction (SWR), which occurs in a steam generator of a liquid-sodium-cooled fast reactor when a heat transfer tube in the steam generator fails, has been developed considering multidimensional and multiphysics thermal hydraulics. Two kinds of reaction models are proposed in accordance with a phase of sodium as a reactant. One is the surface reaction model in which water vapor reacts directly with liquid sodium at the interface between the liquid sodium and the water vapor. The reaction heat will lead to a vigorous evaporation of liquid sodium, resulting in a reaction of gas-phase sodium. This is designated as the gas-phase reaction model. These two models are coupled with a multidimensional, multicomponent gas, and multiphase thermal hydraulics simulation method with compressibility (named the ‘SERAPHIM’ code). Using the present methodology, a numerical investigation of the SWR under a pin-bundle configuration (a benchmark analysis of the SWAT-1R experiment) has been carried out. As a result, the maximum gas temperature of approximately 1,300_C is predicted stably, which lies within the range of previous experimental observations. It is also demonstrated that the maximum temperature of the mass weighted average in the analysis agrees reasonably well with the experimental result measured by thermocouples. The present methodology will be promising to establish a theoretical and mechanical modeling of secondary failure propagation of heat transfer tubes due to such as an overheating rupture and a wastage.

KEYWORDS:

• computational fluid dynamics
• sodium-water reaction
• multiphase analysis
• steam generator
• sodium-cooled fast reactor