Results for “flow field” — Page 16

DOE OSTI2021

The Influence of Pressure on Flame-Flow Characteristics of a Reacting Jet in Crossflow

This work experimentally investigates the effects of elevated combustor pressures on the characteristics of a lean premixed reacting methane/air jet injected into a lean vitiated crossflow using a 12.7 mm axial jet. Experiments were conducted in an axially staged combustor, which implements a reacting jet in crossflow (RJIC) configuration and operates over a pressure range of 1–5 atmospheres. Simultaneous CH* chemiluminescence and particle image velocimetry (PIV) are used to study the flow field and flame behavior. The results show that the reacting jet trajectory exhibits greater penetration with elevated pressure, which is a novel finding compared to available data in the literature. However, the flame liftoff point and ignition delay time both decreased with elevated pressure, which was attributed to decreased vorticity along the flame boundary which corresponds to increased Damköhler numbers (Da). Emissions measurements confirm the NOx increase with pressure as reported in the literature for single-stage gas turbine combustors. Concurrently, emission measurements for the staged configuration show the strong NOx benefit of the RJIC system: the data prove a reduction of global outlet emission levels at elevated pressure with the axially staged configuration. Here, the axial emission reduction was attributed to the decreasing liftoff at elevated pressure levels. Hence, the research emphasizes that the flame and emission characteristics are coupled; they are not only dependent on the geometric parameters and momentum flux ratios but are also a function of pressure.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Partially cracked ammonia mixture combustion in gas turbine combustors

Ammonia is gaining popularity for single fuel use in existing gas turbines, as it is carbonless, has higher hydrogen content per unit volume than liquid hydrogen, and facilitates easy storage and handling. However, the low flame speed of ammonia makes it prone to flame blow off and remains the chief concern for its use in power generation. Following previous studies that have shown improved combustion performance by partially cracking the fuel, in this computational study, efficacy of partially cracked ammonia as a replacement fuel for natural gas is evaluated. A high-pressure optically accessible combustor operated at ~10 bar pressure with non-vitiated heated air was used as the test platform. This combustor was equipped with a novel multifuel multi-tube micromixing injector (M3 injector). High resolution simulations of the flow fields both in the injector as well as the combustor were performed to understand the fuel mixing in the injector and in the inlet region of the combustor. These modeling results showed that the injector was highly effective for achieving mixture homogeneity at the entrance of the combustor for ammonia and natural gas injection, whereas, for hydrogen an earlier injection facilitating longer residence time would be beneficial. Also, these simulations show that while harnessing waste heat the ideal fuel dissociation fraction is between 0.4 and 0.55 for optimal operation.

Ammonia↗

DOE OSTI2024

High- and Mid-Fidelity Modeling Comparison for a Floating Marine Turbine System

There is a lack of suitable numerical tools, particularly open-source tools, that can be used for designing and optimizing marine turbine systems. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has added features to their widely used mid-fidelity wind turbine modeling code, OpenFAST, to enable modeling of axial-flow marine turbines. This necessitated the addition of several physical effects relevant to marine turbines that are neglected for wind turbines. These include buoyancy, added mass and inertial loads, wave-current superposition, and changes to the coordinate systems. This updated version of OpenFAST allows for the modeling of both fixed and floating marine turbines at a speed comparable to real time. While efficient for large sets of load cases and design studies, mid-fidelity codes make simplifying assumptions that may impact their accuracy. High-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations can capture more flow effects with fewer assumptions and provide detailed body pressure mapping and flow-field information. It is important to compare predictions between mid-fidelity and high-fidelity codes, both to verify the models and to understand the limitations. A floating marine turbine system was modeled both with OpenFAST and with the commercial CFD code STAR-CCM+. The CFD model used a three-dimensional unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solver for a volume-of-fluid numerical wave and current tank. The blade-resolved simulations used the sliding-interface technique for the spinning rotor and an overset grid to accommodate the rigid-body motion of the floating system. The mooring system was modeled with a custom coupling of the CFD solver with the open-source code MoorDyn. This improves upon the existing quasi-static catenary solver in STAR-CCM+, which lacks seabed contact or line-to-line connections. Simulation results for a floating marine turbine are compared between OpenFAST and CFD, highlighting the capabilities of the mid-fidelity code and identifying the areas where a high-fidelity approach is needed.

CFD↗

DOE OSTI2020

kynema-sgf [SWR-20-85]

Kynema-SGF (formerly AMR-Wind), wherein SGF stands for structured-grid fluid dynamics, is a massively parallel, block-structured adaptive-mesh, incompressible flow solver. The codebase was initiated in 2019 from incflo. The solver is built on top of the AMReX library. AMReX library provides the mesh data structures, mesh adaptivity, as well as the linear solvers used for solving the governing equations. Kynema-SGF is actively developed and maintained by a dedicated multi-institutional team from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Laboratory of the Rockies, and Sandia National Laboratories. The primary applications for Kynema-SGF are: performing large-eddy simulations (LES) of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flows, simulating wind farm turbine-wake interactions using actuator disk or actuator line models for turbines, and as a background solver when coupled with a near-body solver (e.g., Kynema-UGF) with overset methodology to perform blade-resolved simulations of multiple wind turbines within a wind farm. For offshore applications, the ability to model the air-sea interaction effects and its impact on the ABL characteristics is another focus for the code development effort. As with other codes in the Kynema ecosystem, Kynema-SGF shares the following objectives: *an open, well-documented implementation of the state-of-the-art computational models for modeling wind farm flow physics at various fidelities that are backed by a comprehensive verification and validation (V&V) process; *be capable of performing the highest-fidelity simulations of flow fields within wind farms; and *be able to leverage the high-performance leadership class computing facilities available at DOE national laboratories.

Ananthan, Shreyas↗

DOE OSTI2020

Laminar-to-turbulent flame transition and cycle-to-cycle variations in large eddy simulation of spark-ignition engines

This paper investigates the effect of laminar-to-turbulent flame transition modeling on the prediction of cycle-to-cycle variations (CCVs) in large eddy simulation (LES) of spark-ignition (SI) engines. A laminar-to-turbulent flame transition model that describes the non-equilibrium sub-filter flame speed evolution during an early stage of flame kernel growth is developed. In the present model, the flame transition is characterized by the flame kernel size at which the flame transition ends, defined here as the flame transition scale. The proposed model captures the effects that variations in a turbulent flow field have on the evolution of early-stage burning rates, through variations in the flame transition scale. The proposed flame transition model is combined with the front propagation formulation (FPF) method and a spark-ignition model to predict CCVs in a gasoline direct injection SI engine. It is found that multi-cycle LES with the proposed flame transition model reproduces experimentally-observed CCVs satisfactorily. When the transition model is not considered or when variations in the transition process are neglected, CCVs are significantly under-predicted for the case considered here. These results indicate the importance of modeling the laminar-to-turbulent flame transition and the effect of turbulence on the transition process, when predicting CCVs, under certain engine conditions. The LES results are also used to analyze sources for variations in the flame transition. It is found, for the present engine case, that the most important source is the cycle-to-cycle variation in the turbulence dissipation rate, which is used to measure the strength of turbulence in the proposed model, near a spark plug. The large-scale velocity field and the variations of the laminar flame speed due to the mixture composition and thermal stratification are also found to be important factors to contribute to the variations in the flame transition.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2023

ERF: Energy Research and Forecasting

The Energy Research and Forecasting (ERF) code is a new model that simulates the mesoscale and microscale dynamics of the atmosphere using the latest high-performance computing architectures. It employs hierarchical parallelism using an MPI+X model, where X may be OpenMP on multicore CPU-only systems, or CUDA, HIP, or SYCL on GPU-accelerated systems. ERF is built on AMReX (Zhang et al., 2019, 2021), a block-structured adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) software framework that provides the underlying performance-portable software infrastructure for block-structured mesh operations. The "energy" aspect of ERF indicates that the software has been developed with renewable energy applications in mind. In addition to being a numerical weather prediction model, ERF is designed to provide a flexible computational framework for the exploration and investigation of different physics parameterizations and numerical strategies, and to characterize the flow field that impacts the ability of wind turbines to extract wind energy. The ERF development is part of a broader effort led by the US Department of Energy's Wind Energy Technologies Office.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2024

DRDMannTurb: A Python package for scalable, data-driven synthetic turbulence

Synthetic turbulence models (STMs) are used in wind engineering to generate realistic flow fields and are employed as inputs to industrial wind simulations. Examples include prescribing inlet conditions in large eddy simulations that model loads on wind turbines and tall buildings. We are interested in STMs capable of generating fluctuations based on prescribed second-moment statistics since such models can simulate environmental conditions that closely resemble on-site observations. To this end, the widely used Mann model (see Mann, 1994, 1998) is the inspiration for DRDMannTurb. The Mann model is described by three physical parameters: a magnitude parameter influencing the global variance of the wind field and corresponding to the Kolmogorov constant multiplied by the rate of viscous dissipation of the turbulent kinetic energy to the two-thirds, αϵ 2/3 , a turbulence length scale parameter L, and a nondimensional parameter Γ related to the lifetime of the eddies. A number of studies, as well as international standards (e.g., those by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)), include recommended values for these three parameters with the goal of standardizing wind simulations according to observed energy spectra. Yet, having only three parameters, the Mann model faces limitations in accurately representing the diversity of observable spectra. This Python package enables users to extend the Mann model and more accurately fit field measurements through flexible neural network models of the eddy lifetime function. Following Keith et al. (2021), we refer to this class of models as Deep Rapid Distortion (DRD) models. DRDMannTurb also includes a general module implementing an efficient method for synthetic turbulence generation based on a domain decomposition technique. This technique is also described in Keith et al. (2021).

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Pore-Scale Oil Connectivity and Displacement by Controlled-Ionic-Composition Waterflooding Using Synchrotron X-Ray Microtomography

Controlled-ionic-composition waterflooding is an economic and effective method to improve oil recovery in carbonate oil reservoirs. Recent studies show controlling the salinity and ionic composition of injection water can alter the wettability of carbonate mineral surfaces. The pore-scale oil connectivity and displacement by controlled-ionic-composition waterflooding in heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs, especially at the early stage, is still unclear. The goal of this study is to examine the role of ion concentrations and types in the oil displacement efficiency and investigate the impact of the waterflooding on the pore-scale oil displacement using the national synchrotron facility. A carbonate rock sample was flooded with synthetic high-salinity water and other water solutions with different sulfate concentrations. The waterflooding processes were visualized with synchrotron X-ray microtomography to follow the evolution of pore-scale oil/brine interactions at typical field flow rates. Experimental results show that the water with lower sulfate concentration and higher salinity did not change the wettability of the pore surfaces. Higher sulfate ion concentrations in the water, in contrast, altered the wettability of carbonate pore surfaces from oil-wet to neutral-wet within the first few minutes of waterflooding. Finally, novel insight was gained on the ability of water with high-sulfate concentration to displace oil in the small pores and through abundant oil channels, which could consequently lead to higher oil recovery from the carbonate rock.

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Predictive Flow Simulation with the P2R Model for the Composite Analysis Base Case

In order to meet the requirements of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in DOE O 435.1 Chg. 1, Radioactive Waste Management, a Composite Analysis (CA) must be completed for the Central Plateau at the Hanford Site. The CA requires estimates of fate and transport of radionuclides in the groundwater from multiple sources within the modeling domain. This document details the application of the P2R Model version 8.3 to predict the flow of groundwater on the Central Plateau for the 10,000-year simulation to support the CA. The simulated flow field will support the simulation of fate and transport of contaminants for use in predicting dose as part of the CA.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2020

Predictive Flow Simulation with the P2R Model for the Composite Analysis Base Case

In order to meet the requirements of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in DOE O 435.1 Chg.1, Radioactive Waste Management, a Composite Analysis (CA) must be completed for the Central Plateau at the Hanford Site. The CA requires estimates of fate and transport of radionuclides in the groundwater from multiple sources within the modeling domain. This document details the application of the P2R Model version 8.3 to predict the flow of groundwater on the Central Plateau for the 10,000-year simulation to support the CA. The simulated flow field will support the simulation of fate and transport of contaminants for use in predicting dose as part of the CA.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2020

Multi-Physics Simulations of Molten Chloride Fast Reactor using Nek5000 and PROTEUS-NODAL

This report documents the FY20 work to demonstrate a specific multi-physics capability within NEAMS tools to model molten chloride fast reactors (MCFR). Specifically, the CFD code Nek5000 and the neutronics code PROTEUS-NODAL were coupled off-line to calculate the delayed neutron precursor distribution within the flowing fuel salts in an MCFR core. An MCFR benchmark problem and a 3D test problem based on a conceptual MSR design were successfully solved through the coupled simulation of Nek5000 and PROTEUS-NODAL. In the coupled simulations for these test problems, Nek5000 provided high-quality flow field information, and PROTEUS-NODAL performed the neutron diffusion calculation along with the precursor drift model. The impact of precursor drift on the core status was also investigated. Additionally, the precursor drift model implemented in PROTEUS-NODAL was verified by making use of the reference precursor distribution generated from Nek5000. Results of these test problems suggest that the multi-physics capability of Nek5000 and PROTEUS-NODAL was properly developed for tracking delayed neutron precursor drift.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article - Report of THETA Commissioning for METL Testing

The Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article (THETA) is a facility that will be used to develop sodium components and instrumentation as well as acquire experimental data for validation of reactor thermal hydraulic and safety analysis codes. The facility will simulate nominal conditions as well as protected/unprotected loss of flow accidents in a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). High fidelity distributed temperature profiles of the developed flow field will be acquired with Rayleigh backscatter based optical fiber temperature sensors. The facility is being designed in partnership with systems code experts to tailor the experiment to ensure the most relevant and highest quality data for code validation. THETA is comprised of a traditional primary and secondary system. The primary system is submerged in the pool of sodium and consists of a pump, electrically heated core, intermediate heat exchanger, and connected piping and thermal barriers (redan). The secondary system, located outside of the sodium pool, consists of a pump, sodium to air heat exchanger, and connected piping and valves. Figure 1 illustrates the main components of the primary system. THETA has been installed in the Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop (METL) with the primary system in the 28 inch Test Vessel #4, Figure 2 and Figure 3. Since the FY20 THETA status report, [1], further water shakedown testing was performed, some final welding modifications were performed, all system components were sanitized, dry assembled, and commissioned before installing into METL test vessel #4. The THETA submersible electromagnetic flowmeter was welded closed to hermetically seal internal components from sodium followed by a helium leak check for the final time

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Spatially and Temporally Resolved Velocimetry for Hypersonic Flows

The development of new hypersonic flight vehicles is limited by the physical understanding that may be obtained from ground test facilities. This has motivated the present development of a temporally and spatially resolved velocimetry measurement for Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) using Femtosecond Laser Electronic Excitation Tagging (FLEET). First, a multi-line FLEET technique has been created for the first time and tested in a supersonic jet, allowing simultaneous measurements of velocities along multiple profiles in a flow. Secondly, two different approaches have been demonstrated for generating dotted FLEET lines. One employs a slit mask pattern focused into points to yield a dotted line, allowing for two- or three-component velocity measurements free of contamination between components. The other dotted-line approach is based upon an optical wedge array and yields a grid of points rather than a dotted line. Two successful FLEET measurement campaigns have been conducted in SNL’s HWT. The first effort established optimal diagnostic configurations in the hypersonic environment based on earlier benchtop reproductions, including validation of the use of a 267 nm beam to boost the measurement signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with minimal risk of perturbing the flow and greater simplicity than a comparable resonant technique at 202 nm. The same FLEET system subsequently was reconstituted to demonstrate the ability to make velocimetry measurements of hypersonic turbulence in a realistic flow field. Mean velocity profiles and turbulence intensity profiles of the shear layer in the wake of a hypersonic cone model were measured at several different downstream stations, proving the viability of FLEET as a hypersonic diagnostic.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article (FY21 Final Report)

The Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article (THETA) is a facility that will be used to develop sodium components and instrumentation as well as acquire experimental data for validation of reactor thermal hydraulic and safety analysis codes. The facility will simulate nominal conditions as well as protected/unprotected loss of flow accidents in a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). High fidelity distributed temperature profiles of the developed flow field will be acquired with Rayleigh backscatter based optical fiber temperature sensors. The facility is being designed in partnership with systems code experts to tailor the experiment to ensure the most relevant and highest quality data for code validation. THETA is comprised of a traditional primary and secondary system. The primary system is submerged in the pool of sodium and consists of a pump, electrically heated core, intermediate heat exchanger, and connected piping and thermal barriers (redan). The secondary system, located outside of the sodium pool, consists of a pump, sodium to air heat exchanger, and connected piping and valves. Figure 1 illustrates the main components of the primary system. THETA has been installed in the Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop (METL) with the primary system in the 28 inch Test Vessel #4, Figure 2 and Figure 3. Since the FY20 THETA status report, further water shakedown testing was performed, some final welding modifications were performed, all system components were sanitized, dry assembled, and commissioned. The THETA submersible electromagnetic flowmeter was welded closed to hermetically seal internal components from sodium followed by a helium leak check for the final time. Following installation of THETA into vessel #4, all data acquisition and control systems were brought online and commissioned at room temperature in the argon gas space of the empty vessel. The vessel zone 1 heaters were reinstalled and the flange was then insulated. The vessel 4 heaters were brought to a temperature of 100 °C and the THETA pump was jogged at 600 RPM to ensure it was functioning correctly. The secondary, AC Conduction based electromagnetic pump from CMI Novacast (product number CA-15) was ordered and will be delivered in late calendar year 2021. The custom designed permanent magnet based secondary flowmeter was designed, a drawing package and manufacturing specification created and quote requested from a machine shop. The intermediate heat exchanger design was completed and a drawing package is currently in progress. During the middle of calendar year 2021 the Building 308 sodium scrubber system was shut down in order to replaced some corroded piping and facilitate improvements on the system, thus requiring the sodium in METL to remain frozen. This has imposed a delay in filling vessel 4 with sodium to begin THETA testing. Sodium testing is expected to begin in early fiscal year 2022 as all THETA primary systems are operational.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article - Status Report FY20 Q2

The Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article (THETA) is a facility that will be used to develop sodium components and instrumentation as well as acquire experimental data for validation of reactor thermal hydraulic and safety analysis codes. The facility will simulate nominal conditions as well as protected/unprotected loss of flow accidents in a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). High fidelity distributed temperature profiles of the developed flow field will be acquired with Rayleigh backscatter based optical fiber temperature sensors. The facility is being designed in partnership with systems code experts to tailor the experiment to ensure the most relevant and highest quality data for code validation. THETA is comprised of a traditional primary and secondary system. The primary system is submerged in the pool of sodium and consists of a pump, electrically heated core, intermediate heat exchanger, and connected piping and thermal barriers (like a redan). The secondary system, located outside of the sodium pool, consists of a pump, sodium to air heat exchanger, and connected piping and valves. Figure 1 illustrates the main components of the primary system. THETA will be installed in the Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop (METL) with the primary system in the 28 inch Test Vessel #4, Figure 2. The design work for the facility has been completed, most primary component have been fabricated, primary components are being assembled in preparation for initial testing, and procurement is continuing with the secondary system components. Since the FY19 THETA status report, The THETA primary system components are at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and have been dry assembled. The secondary sodium system for heat rejection from intermediate heat exchanger has all been analyzed according to ASME code. All secondary side piping, fittings and a U-stamped air-to-sodium heat exchanger has been procured.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2022

Predictive Flow Simulation with the P2R Model for the 200-IA-1 Preliminary Remediation Goal Saturated Zone Abstraction

In order to develop and evaluate alternatives for remediation of waste sites constituting the 200-IA-1 Operable Unit (OU), a focused feasibility study (FFS) is currently underway. The 200-IA-1 OU FFS requires preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) protective of groundwater be evaluated which includes estimates of fate and transport of contaminants in the groundwater from multiple sources within the Central Plateau Inner Area. This document details the application of the Plateau-to-River (P2R) Model version 8.3 to predict the flow of groundwater on the Central Plateau for the 10,000-year simulation to support the 200-IA-1 OU PRG calculation. The simulated flow field will support the simulation of fate and transport of contaminants for use in estimating peak unit-length concentration as part of the 200-IA-1 OU PRG calculation presented in a separate environmental calculation file (ECF) (ECF-200IA1-20-0108, Determination of Preliminary Remediation Goals for 200-IA-1 Source Operable Unit).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2022

Effects of Intrusive Confining Units on Groundwater Flow at Pahute Mesa, Nevada National Security Site

Geological, geophysical, hydrogeological, and hydrological evidence indicates that feeder dikes to lava flows play a role as confining units in the groundwater flow system underlying the Pahute Mesa area of underground nuclear testing at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Of geological significance, the Pahute Mesa testing area is largely situated within the Silent Canyon caldera, which includes both tuffs and lavas that were fed by (and are connected to) intrusive rock units such as feeder dikes prior to and during volcanic eruptions (Orkild et al., 1968; Byers et al., 1976). Groundwater modeling results presented in this report support extension of “pool-dam” and “breach scenario” concepts presented in Jackson and Fenelon (2018) and Jackson et al. (2021) to low-permeability intrusive confining units (ICUs) such as feeder dikes that are expected to dissect and ring the caldera. As laterally extensive, steeply-dipping, and sub-parallel planar structures, ICUs can be expected to further compartmentalize groundwater flow in the volcanic aquifers systems at Pahute Mesa beyond the stratigraphically-defined tuff confining units (TCUs). ICUs provide an explanation for changes in water levels before and after the Cheshire test, detonated 2/14/76 (USDOE, 2015), and the unusually high horizontal gradient southwest of Cheshire. These ICU concepts are supported by groundwater modeling results presented in this report. The evidence and groundwater modeling results indicate that the downgradient extent of radionuclide contamination in some areas of Pahute Mesa could be overestimated by ignoring the confining effects of ICUs. On the other hand, contaminant extent could be underestimated by not considering transient flow effects and/or the re-equilibrated flow field caused by breaching of an ICU by an underground nuclear test.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article - Fiscal Year 2023 (Final Report)

The Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article (THETA) is a facility that is used to develop sodium components and instrumentation as well as acquire experimental data for validation of reactor thermal hydraulic and safety analysis codes. The facility simulates nominal conditions as well as protected/unprotected loss of flow accidents in a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). High fidelity distributed temperature profiles of the developed flow field may be acquired with Rayleigh backscatter based optical fiber temperature sensors. The facility was designed in partnership with systems code experts to tailor the experiment to ensure the most relevant and highest quality data for code validation. THETA is comprised of a traditional primary coolant and secondary coolant system. The primary system is submerged in the pool of sodium and consists of a pump, electrically heated core, intermediate heat exchanger, and connected piping and thermal barriers (redan). The secondary system, located outside of the sodium pool, consists of a pump, sodium to air heat exchanger, and connected piping and valves. To date a test matrix has been completed utilizing the primary system of THETA. These tests, along with computational fluid dynamics and systems code models, determined the heat transfer across the core barrel and intermediate heat exchanger outlet was too great to effectively represent scaled thermal hydraulic phenomena of a liquid metal cooled reactor. Therefore, a significant effort was made to remove the primary system from the METL 28” test vessel #4 and clean the residual sodium from the primary system to facilitate upgrades. Thermal insulation was then incorporated in the core barrel and intermediate heat exchanger outlets. The primary system was then replaced, and a series of tests were performed to assess the performance of the thermal insulation. With primary system testing and upgrades complete, the secondary system could then be brought online. The tube side of the shell-and-tube intermediate heat exchanger was installed onto the primary system flange to begin installing the secondary system. The support structure for the secondary system was then erected on the METL mezzanine alongside the THETA primary system to facilitate installation of the secondary system components (sodium-to-air heat exchanger, flowmeter and pump). The piping and expansion tank were welded into the secondary system. Non-destructive examination of the secondary system welds was completed in order to satisfy ASME B31.3 pipe code for class M process fluids. The heating system and insulation were then added to prepare the system to be filled with sodium. The ancillary electrical equipment was installed which included the pump control box, blower VFD, pipe heater control system, etc. The secondary system will be filled, and a test matrix will be completed in early FY2024.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗