Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Freels, James D

Publications and source records attributed to Freels, James D.

7 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Advanced Multiphysics Thermal-Hydraulics Models for the High Flux Isotope Reactor

Engineering design studies to determine the feasibility of converting the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) from using highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel are ongoing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). This work is part of an effort sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Reactor Conversion Program. HFIR is a very high flux pressurized light-water-cooled and moderated flux-trap type research reactor. HFIR s current missions are to support neutron scattering experiments, isotope production, and materials irradiation, including neutron activation analysis. Advanced three-dimensional multiphysics models of HFIR fuel were developed in COMSOL software for safety basis (worst case) operating conditions. Several types of physics including multilayer heat conduction, conjugate heat transfer, turbulent flows (RANS model) and structural mechanics were combined and solved for HFIR s inner and outer fuel elements. Alternate design features of the new LEU fuel were evaluated using these multiphysics models. This work led to a new, preliminary reference LEU design that combines a permanent absorber in the lower unfueled region of all of the fuel plates, a burnable absorber in the inner element side plates, and a relocated and reshaped (but still radially contoured) fuel zone. Preliminary results of estimated thermal safety margins are presented. Fuel design studies and model enhancement continue.

COMSOL↗
DOE OSTI2015

COMSOL-Related Activities within the Research Reactors Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Our group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) started using COMSOL shortly after version 3.0 was released in the Spring of 2004. Over 11 years later and several new releases of the code, the application usage has grown along with the number of licenses we are responsible for. This paper focuses not on details of results and modeling methods, but instead, takes a look at our past and present applications, and evaluates where we are headed with COMSOL in the future. In doing so, we reveal some lessons learned along our pathway, provide some insight on how best to use COMSOL in a group setting, and perhaps help both users and developers to improve how the code is utilized.

COMSOL SQA HFIR↗
DOE OSTI2014

PLUTONIUM-238 PRODUCTION TARGET DESIGN STUDIES

A new supply chain is planned for plutonium-238 using existing reactors at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and existing chemical recovery facilities at ORNL. Validation and testing activities for new irradiation target designs have been conducted in three phases over a 2 year period to provide data for scale-up to production. Target design, qualification, target fabrication, and irradiation of fully-loaded targets have been accomplished. Data from post-irradiation examination (PIE) supports safety analysis and irradiation of future target designs.

hfir↗
DOE OSTI2013

Fluid-Structure Interaction Modeling of High-Aspect Ratio Nuclear Fuel Plates Using COMSOL

The High Flux Isotope Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Lab is in the research stage of converting its fuel from high-enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium. Due to different physical properties of the new fuel and changes to the internal fuel plate design, the current safety basis must be re-evaluated through rigorous computational analyses. One of the areas being explored is the fluid-structure interaction phenomenon due to the interaction of thin fuel plates (50 mils thickness) and the cooling fluid (water). Detailed computational fluid dynamics and fluid-structure interaction simulations have only recently become feasible due to improved numerical algorithms and advancements in computing technology. For many reasons including the already built-in fluid-structure interaction module, COMSOL has been chosen for this complex problem. COMSOL's ability to solve multiphysics problems using a fully-coupled and implicit solution algorithm is crucial in obtaining a stable and accurate solution. Our initial findings show that COMSOL can accurately model such problems due to its ability to closely couple the fluid dynamics and the structural dynamics problems.

Fluid-Structure Interaction↗
DOE OSTI2013

Simulating HFIR Core Thermal Hydraulics Using 3D-2D Model Coupling

A model utilizing interdimensional variable coupling is presented for simulating the thermal hydraulic interactions of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) core at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The model s domain consists of a single, explicitly represented three-dimensional fuel plate and a simplified two-dimensional coolant channel slice. In simplifying the coolant channel, and thus the number of mesh points in which the Navier-Stokes equations must be solved, the computational cost and solution time are both greatly reduced. In order for the reduced-dimension coolant channel to interact with the explicitly represented fuel plate, however, interdimensional variable coupling must be enacted along all shared boundaries. The primary focus of this paper is in detailing the collection, storage, passage, and application of variables across this interdimensional interface. Comparisons are made showing the general speed-up associated with this simplified coupled model.

HFIR↗