A numerical benchmark for modelling phase change in molten salt reactors

Abstract

The design of a molten salt reactor is largely based on CFD simulations. Phase change plays an important role in the safety of the reactor, but numerical modelling of phase change is particularly challenging. Therefore, the knowledge of the margin of error of CFD simulations involving phase change is very important. Relevant experimental validation data is lacking. For this reason, a numerical benchmark designed after the freeze valve is proposed. The benchmark consists of five stages, where with each step more complexity is added. The step-wise addition of complexity allows for pinpointing potential sources of discrepancy. Results were obtained with three different codes: STAR-CCM+, OpenFOAM, and DGFlows. The results were found to be largely consistent between the codes, however the addition of conjugate heat transfer introduced some discrepancies. These results indicate that careful consideration is needed when coupling conjugate heat transfer solvers with solid–liquid phase change models.