Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2021
26th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
TRANSIENT THERMAL DIFFUSION AND TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION OF A CYLINDRICAL FUEL PALLET SHIFTED RADIALLY IN A PRESSURIZED WATER REACTOR
Submission Author:
Felipe Timoteo , RJ , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Felipe Timoteo, Thiago Rosa, Marcos Curi
Presenter: Felipe Timoteo
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2021.COB2021-1891
Abstract
In recent years, the rising demand for carbon-free energy sources makes alternative sources, such as nuclear energy, a promising solution to do away with the effects on long-term climate changes, reducing greenhouse effect gases in electricity generation. Notwithstanding, the nuclear solution must overcome high construction costs and safety risks to succeed. The thermodynamics and heat transfer inside the reactor core is physically and mathematically complex to simulate or predict based on non-linear governing equations. In this regard, this paper aims to investigate the radial thermal diffusion and temperature distribution of the fuel rod of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) using finite element modelling technique (FEM). This study first conducted a steady-state analysis considering temperature-dependent parameters as gap conductance approximation, density, thermal capacity, the thermal conductivity of the fuel pellet and clad, and a uniform volumetric heat-generation rate. Geometric characteristics of Westinghouse AP1000 were also implemented. In addition, a transient analysis of the fuel rod is developed to evaluate the effect of the cylindrical fuel pellet shifted radially. The temperature profiles of the fuel pellet and clad resulting from FE analysis shows important maximum temperature spots as the outside surface of the fuel and the inner surface of the clad.
Keywords
Nuclear Fuel Rod, transient thermal analysis, Finite Element Method, displacement system
