Direct numerical simulation of internally heated natural convection in a hemispherical geometry

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Internally heated (IH) natural convection can be found in nature, industrial processes, or during a severe accident in a light water reactor. In this accident scenario, the nuclear reactor core and some internal structures can melt down and relocate to the lower head of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and interact with the remaining coolant. Subsequent re-heating and re-melting under decay and oxidation heat creates a transition from a debris bed to a molten pool. The molten pool, which can involve more than hundred tons of dangerously superheated oxidic and metallic liquids, imposes thermo-mechanical loads on the vessel wall that can lead to a thermal and/or structural failure of the vessel and subsequent release of radioactive materials to the reactor pit, and can possibly make its way to the environment. This study uses Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) to investigate homogeneous IH molten pool convection in a hemispherical domain using Nek5000, an open-source spectral element code. With a Rayleigh number of 1.6 × 10^11, the highest reached through DNS in this confined hemispherical geometry, and a Prandtl number of 0.5, which corresponds to a prototypic corium, the study provides detailed information on the thermo-fluid behavior. The results show a turbulent flow with three distinct regions, consistent with the general flow observations from the BALI experiments. The study also presents detailed information on turbulence, such as turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), turbulent heat flux (THF), and temperature variance. Additionally, the study provides 3D heat flux distributions along the boundaries. The heat fluxes along the top boundary fluctuate due to the turbulent eddies in the vicinity, while along the curved boundary the heat fluxes increase nonlinearly from the bottom to the top.
Original languageEnglish
Article number124997
JournalInternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
Volume220
Early online date30 Nov 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2024
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