Eventos Anais de eventos
ENCIT 2016
16th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Sciences and Engineering
THERMAL STUDIES ABOUT THE HIGH TEMPERATURE ENGINEERING TEST REACTOR
Submission Author:
Maria Elizabeth Scari , MG
Co-Authors:
Antonella Lombardi Costa
Presenter: Maria Elizabeth Scari
doi://10.26678/ABCM.ENCIT2016.CIT2016-0693
Abstract
A thermal model for the HTTR (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor) has been developed using the RELAP5 code. The HTTR is a high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) developed, designed, constructed, and operated by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). The construction of the HTTR began in March 1991 and was completed in May 1996. Fuel loading began in July 1998 and the first criticality was attained in November 1998.The first full power operation with average outlet temperature was completed in December 2001. It is a helium-cooled and graphite-moderated with a thermal power of 30 MW. The HTTR fuel consists of a spherical fuel kernel of enriched UO2. These fuel kernels are coated and form a sphere with 0.92 mm diameter. The spheres are arranged in a fuel compact and the sintered compact fuels are arranged in a vertical array, a fuel rod. The fuel rods are inserted in graphite prismatic hexagonal blocks. There are four types of fuel rods with different uranium enrichment along the core. Approximately 95 % of the thermal power in the active core is generated by the fuel elements and the rest by the graphite moderator. In this work, a HTTR core inlet and outlet coolant temperatures, heat structures temperature and pressure drop have been reproduced using a RELAP5 model. The results have been compared with the available data. The reactor core has been simulated and the calculations were performed using the point kinetic model. It is demonstrated that the developed model is capable of reproducing the thermal reactor behavior in steady state operation.
Keywords
nuclear engineering, nuclear reactor, thermo hydraulic model
