An analytical solution for thermal-hydraulic analysis and safety margins in MTR-type research reactors cooled by natural convection

作者：Ardaneh Kazem; Zaferanlouei Salman^*

来源：Annals of Nuclear Energy, 2013, 51: 282-288.

DOI：10.1016/j.anucene.2012.07.021

• MTR research reactor
• Natural convection
• Safety margins
• Analytical solution

An analytical solution has been developed to analyze the thermal-hydraulic behavior of MTR research reactors under steady-state natural convection. The approach is based on the one-dimensional conservation equations of mass, energy, momentum, and Boussinesq approximation as the equation of state. SILOE Research Reactor and Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) are taken as the benchmark problems. For all ranges of power under single phase natural convection, the relative difference between analytical predictions and experimental measurements lies in the range 0.01-7.0%. Also, the results are compared with the corresponding results obtained with CONVEC V 3.40 computer code. Having achieved a good agreement shows the analytical solution is practicable to predict safety margins for MTR-type research reactors under natural convection. The safe operating power levels for TRR and the safety margins against onset of nucleate boiling, pulsed boiling, and burnout are evaluated with this analytical solution.

• 出版日期2013-1