European Developments in Single Phase Turbulence for Innovative Reactors

Thermal-hydraulics is recognized as a key scientific subject in the development of different innovative nuclear reactor systems. From the thermal-hydraulic point of view, different innovative reactors are mainly characterized by their coolants (gas, water, liquid metals and molten salt). They result in specific behavior of flow and heat transfer, which requires specific models and advanced analysis tools. However, many common thermal-hydraulic issues are identified among various innovative nuclear systems. InEurope, such cross-cutting thermal-hydraulics topics are the motivation for the THINS (Thermal-Hydraulics of Innovative Nuclear Systems) project which is sponsored by the European Commission from 2010 to 2014. This paper describes the ongoing developments in an important part of this project devoted to single phase turbulence issues. To this respect, the two main issues have been identified: Non-unity Prandtl number turbulence. In case of liquid metals, molten salts or supercritical fluids, the commonly applied constant turbulent Prandtl number concept is not applicable and robust engineering turbulence models are needed. This paper will report on the progress achieved with respect to the development and validation of turbulence models available in commonly used engineering tools. The paper also reports about the supporting experiments and direct numerical simulations. Temperature fluctuations possibly leading to thermal fatigue in innovative reactors. The status is described of a fundamental experiment dealing with the mixing of different density gases in a rectangular channel, an experiment in a more complex geometry of a small mixing plenum using a supercritical fluid, and direct numerical simulations of conjugate heat transfer on temperature fluctuations in liquid metal