Nuclear thermal hydraulics
Prof. Yann Bartosiewicz – UCLouvain
5 ECTS
145 hours study time
- 31 contact hours theory
- 20 contact hours exercises/laboratory sessions/visits
- 22 contact hours personal work
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- To learn how to estimate the volumetric heat generation rate in fission reactor cores under normal
operation and shutdown conditions - To learn how to analyze the thermal performance of nuclear fuel elements
- To learn the basic fluid mechanics of single-phase reactor cooling systems
- To learn to calculate pressure drop in reactor systems, including tube bundles, and spacer grids
- To learn to analyze the heat transfer characteristics of single-phase reactor cooling systems
- To learn the basic fluid mechanics of two-phase systems, including modelling approaches, flow regime
maps, void-quality relations, and pressure drop evaluation - To learn the fundamentals of boiling heat transfer, and its implications for reactor design
- To learn the fundamentals of core thermal design, e.g. flow rate/pressure drop relation under different
conditions (friction dominated/gravity dominated) for the evaluation of cooling performances
In addition of supervised exercises, a mini-project is organized about modelling and computing pressure
drop in a boiling channel (different conditions and assumptions may be treated over the years). - To learn how to estimate the volumetric heat generation rate in fission reactor cores under normal
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- Thermal design principles/reactor heat generation
- Reminders about single phase transport equations (prerequisite)
- Two-phase flow models, transport equations
- Thermodynamic (vessels/pressurizer) and power conversion cycle (steam)
- Heat transfer analysis in a fuel element
- Reminders about single phase fluid mechanics and heat transfer (prerequisite)
- Two-phase fluid mechanics and pressure drops
- Two-phase heat transfer (pool boiling, flow boiling)
- Single heated channel (thermal and flow problems)
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The PowerPoint presentations of the lectures, and additional lecture notes, are available on the BNEN website.
Some lectures are pre-recorded and available on a special data transfer environment. It can be asked to students to watch/study some recorded lectures as a prerequisite before the start of the course.Other useful references:
- Todreas, N.E. and Kazimi, M.S. Nuclear System I: Thermal Hydraulic Fundamentals, Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, 2012.
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- A relevant course about introduction to nuclear energy
- Fundamentals of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics
- Continuum mechanics
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11/20 is made of the exercise part of the exam plus mini project.
9/20 is made of the theoretical part of the exam.
The exercise part of the exam is open book, while the theoretical part is closed book.