Cfd Applications In Nuclear Engineering

High fidelity nuclear reactor thermal hydraulic simulations are a hot research topic in the development of nuclear engineering technology. The three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Multi-phase Fluid Dynamics (CMFD) methods have attracted significant attention in predicting single-phase and multi-phase flows under steady-state or transient scenarios in the field of nuclear reactor engineering. Compared with three-dimensional thermal hydraulic methods, the traditional one-dimensional system analysis method contains inherent defects in the required accuracy and spatial resolution for a number of important nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulic phenomena. At present the CFD method has been widely adopted in the nuclear industry, across both light water reactors and liquid metal cooled fast reactors, providing an effective solution for complex issues of thermal hydraulic analysis. However, the CFD method employs empirical models for turbulence simulation, heat transfer, multi-phase interaction and chemical reactions. Such models must be validated before they can be used with confidence in nuclear reactor applications. In addition, user practice guidelines play a critical role in achieving reliable results from CFD simulations.