The MOOSE fluid properties module

Abstract

The Fluid Properties module within the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) is used to compute fluid properties for numerous applications, ranging from nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics to geothermal energy. Those applications drove the development of the module to enable numerous different fluid equations of states, property lookups with primitive and conserved flow variable to cater to pressure and density-driven solvers, and an object-oriented design facilitating expansion and maintenance. Each fluid property is implemented in its own class but inherits capabilities such as automatic differentiation, automated out-of-bounds handling or variable conversion capabilities. Here, this paper presents the module, its design, its user and developer interface, its content in terms of fluids and properties, and several of its applications showing its major role in the MOOSE simulation ecosystem.