3D thermal hydraulic simulation of the hot channel of a typical material testing reactor under normal operation conditions

The hot channel in a typical Material Testing Reactor (MTR) is subjected to 3D simulation. Because of the existence of similarity planes, only a quarter of the hot channel including meat thickness, clad, and coolant channel is considered for CFD analysis using the FLUENT code. For the simulation, steady state normal operation regime at the reactor nominal power is assumed. In order to build confidence in our modeling approach, the results obtained in this work are compared with those obtained from the one-dimensional simulation code, MTRTHA. That is, modified variables were generated in order to match those obtained by MTRTHA and to allow comparisons. Quite good agreement is generally observed, however, the maximum clad surface temperature predicted by the 3D calculations, located at the clad mid-width, is higher than the 1D prediction by about 8°C but still below the onset of subcooled boiling by adequate safety margin. The results show quite interesting 3D patterns in both the flow field and the heat transfer. Temperature profiles, velocity profiles and contours are all presented to highlight the essential 3D features of this system.