Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation of Flow-Mixing and Heat Transfer in 4 × 4 Rod Bundle With a Twist-Vane Spacer Grid

The clearance between fuel rods is maintained by spacer grid or helical wire wrap. Thermal-hydraulic characteristics inside fuel rod bundle are strongly influenced by the spacer grid geometry and the bundle pitch-to-diameter (P/D) ratio. This includes the maximum fuel temperature, critical heat flux, as well as pressure drop through the fuel bundle. An understanding of the detailed structure of flow mixing and heat transfer in a fuel rod bundle geometry is therefore an important aspect of reactor core design, both in terms of the reactor's safe and reliable operation, and with regard to optimum power extraction. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed to investigate isothermal turbulent flow mixing and heat transfer behavior in 4 × 4 rod bundle with twist-vane spacer grid with P/D ratio of 1.35. This work is carried out under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) co-ordinated research project titled as “Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Codes for Nuclear Power Plant Design.” CFD simulations are performed using open source CFD code OpenFOAM. Numerical results are compared with experimental data from Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and found to be in good agreement.