Benchmark calculations for verification of thermo-fluid analysis codes using simplified model of the OECD/NEA MHTGR-350 core design

摘要

Sponsored by the OECD/NEA, a benchmark study on prismatic high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) using the MHTGR-350 design was initiated. One of the important lessons learned during the process of Phase 1 Exercise 2 of the OECD/NEA MHTGR-350 benchmark is that even the simplest benchmark case of Phase 1 Exercise 2 is too complex to identify reasons for differences among the results obtained by different computer codes. In this work, therefore, simpler benchmark test cases have been developed to improve the efficiency of the verification process of thermo-fluid analysis codes to simulate a prismatic HTGR core. Retaining the major physical thermo-fluid phenomena, the original OECD/NEA benchmark model of Phase 1 Exercise 2 was simplified and four test cases were established using well-organized boundary conditions. Numerical simulations using three computer codes (i.e., GAMMA+, AGREE, and CFX) were performed and good agreement was achieved among the results obtained by the three codes. It is believed that the proposed benchmarks are particularly helpful for code developers and/or researcher who attempt to solve the official MHTGR-350 Benchmark for the first time. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.