• A Study on Pressure Distribution in Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) Core Coolant
• Author  :  Salihu Mohammed and Musa B. Likita
• Pages   :  126-129
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• Abstract

Measuring systems for monitoring of flow parameters whose magnitude and limits accounts for the integrity of the core is an important safety consideration in nuclear reactor design. The present work employs STAR-CCM+ CFD code– based Reynold’s Averaged Nervier Stokes equations (RANS) to solve transported variables -Turbulence kinetic energy and its dissipation rate to study pressure distribution in the core coolant of Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR). A cylindrical symmetry of the reactor core was modeled to equal a tenth of MNSR’s nuclear fuel element to represent the coolant. This was further segmented into 21 equal axial lengths. To conform with the non-uniform heat fluxes imposed on reactor core coolant by the fuel pins at nominal operation, heat fluxes computed using Monte Carlo Neutron Particle (MCNP) code were imposed on the wall surfaces of corresponding segments. The initial conditions common to Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) and Nigerian Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1) operational specifications were imposed at the inlet and outlet of the core coolant to initialize the simulation. Results from the simulation were validated with experimental data generated using GHARR-1 and verified with literature on NIRR-1. The result obtained attests to the effectiveness of the primary coolant in safely removing the generated heat produced in the core of MNSR-type reactor fuel elements.

Keywords: Research Reactors; STAR-CCM+; RANS; Fuel element; NIRR-1, GHARR-1

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.6, No.3 (June-2016)