Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Thermal-hydraulic modeling of CAREM-25 advanced small modular reactor using the porous media approach and COBRA-EN modified code

  • Saeed Zare Ganjaroodi (Energy and Physics Department, Amirkabir University of Technology) ;
  • Maryam Fani (Energy and Physics Department, Amirkabir University of Technology) ;
  • Ehsan Zarifi (Reactor and Nuclear Safety Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute) ;
  • Salaheddine Bentridi (Laboratory of Energy and Smart Systems, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Khemis-Miliana)
  • Received : 2023.09.23
  • Accepted : 2023.12.02
  • Published : 2024.05.25
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Abstract

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are compact nuclear reactors designed to generate electric power up to 300 MWe. They could be assembled in factory, and then transported to be directly installed on-stie. CAREM (Central Argentina de Elementos Modulares) is a national SMR development project, based on light water reactor technology supervised by Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA). It is a natural circulation-based SMR with an indirect-cycle, including specific items and parts that simplify the design and improve safety performance. In this paper, the thermal-hydraulic study of CAREM-25 advanced small modular reactor is conducted by using COBRA-EN modified code and the Porous Media Approach (PMA) for the first time. According to PMA approach, each fuel assembly is modeled and divided into a network of lumped regions. While complex geometries are defined, the thermal-hydraulic parameters such as temperature and density are calculated for coolant and fuel rods. The obtained results show that the temperature in the fuel center may reach a peak around 1280 K in the hottest fuel assembly. Finally, the comparison of results from both methods (modified COBRA-EN and PMA) presented an appropriate consistency.

Keywords

References

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