• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2014

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has a scaled-down moderator test program to simulate the CANDU6 moderator circulation phenomena during steady state operation and accident conditions. In the present work a preliminary experiment using a 1/8 scaled-down moderator tank has been performed to identify the potential problems of the flow visualization and measurement in the scaled-down moderator test facility. With a transparent moderator tank model, a velocity field is measured with a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique under an isothermal state. The flow patterns from the inlet nozzles to the top region of the tank are investigated using PIV for a 1/8 scale moderator tank.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.419-426
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• 2012

A transient, three-dimensional, two-phase flow analysis code, CUPID, has been developed in KAERI. In this work, we performed a preliminary analysis using the CUPID code to investigate the thermal-hydraulic behavior of the moderator in the Calandria vessel of a CANDU reactor. At first, we validated the CUPID code using the three experiments that were performed at Stern Laboratories Inc. To avoid the complexity to generate computational mesh around the Calandria tube bundles, a porous media approach was applied for the region. The pressure drop in the porous media zone was modeled by an empirical correlation. The results of the calculations showed that the CUPID code can predict the mixed flow pattern of forced and natural convection inside the Calandria vessel very well. Thereafter, the analysis was extended to a two-phase flow condition. Also, the local maximum temperature in the Calandria vessel was plotted as a function of the injection flow rate, which may be utilized to predict the local subcooling margin.