Thermal hydraulic modeling of solid-fueled nuclear thermal propulsion reactors part II: Full-core coupled neutronic and thermal hydraulic analysis

Krecicki, M.; Kotlyar, Dan

doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109397

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The ntpThermo code is a reduced order code specifically designed to perform efficient coupled simulations [28,29]. The code was developed using the python programming language due to its open-source licensing/libraries and flexible data structures.…”

Section: Ntpthermo Background and Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Steady-State System Package for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis Using Multi-Dimensional Thermal Hydraulics and Dimensionless Turbopump Treatment

Myers,

DeHart,

Kotlyar

2024

Energies

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Nuclear thermal propulsion is an evolving technology that can be utilized for long-distance space travel. This technology yields the advantage of a high thrust and specific impulse, but requires an examination of the potential design adjustments necessary to enhance its feasibility. The development of nuclear thermal propulsion requires a comprehensive understanding of the system-level behavior during transient and steady-state operation. This paper extends our previous research by including the proper handling of turbomachinery with multi-channel thermal hydraulic simulations only for steady-state solutions. The system-level approach presented here enables the treatment of the turbopump components through non-dimensional analysis that eliminates the assumption of constant efficiencies. All the other components within the system (e.g., reflector and core) can be discretized to multiple channels and layers, in which the full thermal hydraulic solution is established. The approach chosen here enables the realistic modeling of the propellant flow within the expander cycle by capturing the pressure losses, mass flow rate splits, and enthalpy gain for various operational conditions. The verification of the package is completed through point comparisons of previous investigations into similar system designs. Furthermore, sensitivity studies are used to benchmark the capabilities of the package and investigate solution variations due to the perturbation of operational conditions and regimes. The sensitivity studies performed here are important to capture variation in flow characteristics (e.g., temperature, pressure, mass flow rates) for different design objectives such as the thrust and specific impulse. This work demonstrates that system-level simulations lacking multi-channel capability and proper turbomachinery treatment may yield higher uncertainties in understanding the engine’s response and characteristics to changing various requirements. This is extremely important when screening the design space of such propulsion systems and when transient simulations are required.

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Section: Ntpthermo Background and Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Steady-State System Package for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis Using Multi-Dimensional Thermal Hydraulics and Dimensionless Turbopump Treatment

Myers,

DeHart,

Kotlyar

2024

Energies

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“…At present, nuclear thermal rocket propulsion is the primary choice for deep space manned exploration project architecture, and countries are speeding up the calculation design and experimental verification around reactor fuel, materials, and non-nuclear engine components. NASA is collaborating with key laboratories and technology companies to conduct simulations and experiments on fluid management, heat transfer control [1] [2] , transient start and stop [3] , reactor fuel and material numerical calculations [4], and engine ground testing and control. Chinese scholars from Tsinghua University and Harbin Engineering University [5] have also carried out numerical simulation and calculation research on nuclear thermal propulsion around reactor thermal hydraulics [6] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of finned configuration of circular tube based on fluid-structure coupling on hydrogen flow characteristics

Wu,

Shao,

Cai

et al. 2024

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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Nuclear thermal propulsion has the characteristics of high specific impulse, large thrust, green and efficient, and is the primary choice of manned deep space exploration propulsion system. Because the circulating flow of propellant hydrogen in the internal pipeline of the engine is always affected by the harsh environment of high temperature and high pressure, it is very important to study the flow characteristics of hydrogen in the pipeline, the heat exchange characteristics of hydrogen and pipeline and the deformation characteristics of pipeline under heat stress. In this paper, the flow phenomena of hot hydrogen in round tubes in a laminar flow state were analyzed by numerical simulation with COMSOL Mulitiphisics6.0, and the fluid-structure coupling between hot hydrogen fluid and pipe was investigated by a multi-physics field. It is concluded that the smoother the inner wall of the pipeline is, the smaller the hydrogen flow velocity is, the smaller the surface pressure of the pipe wall is, and the smaller the fluid extrusion and impact deformation of the pipe in the typical pipe with the inner fin is. It inspires studying the application of hot hydrogen flow and pipeline configuration in nuclear thermal rocket engines, including improving heat transfer energy and uniformity.

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Multi-physics analysis of SBLOCA by coupled Neutronics/Thermal-Hydraulics full plant model

Naghavi dizaji,

Ghafari,

Vosoughi

2024

Nuclear Engineering and Design

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Thermal hydraulic modeling of solid-fueled nuclear thermal propulsion reactors part II: Full-core coupled neutronic and thermal hydraulic analysis

Cited by 7 publications

References 31 publications

Integrated Steady-State System Package for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis Using Multi-Dimensional Thermal Hydraulics and Dimensionless Turbopump Treatment

Integrated Steady-State System Package for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis Using Multi-Dimensional Thermal Hydraulics and Dimensionless Turbopump Treatment

Effect of finned configuration of circular tube based on fluid-structure coupling on hydrogen flow characteristics

Multi-physics analysis of SBLOCA by coupled Neutronics/Thermal-Hydraulics full plant model

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