Numerical Simulation of the Coolant Mixing in pressurized water reactors

The behavior of PWRs during cold water or boron dilution transients is strongly influenced by the distribution of coolant
temperature and boron concentration at the core inlet. This distribution is the needed input to 3-dimensional neutron kinetics to
calculate the power distribution in the core. It mainly depends on how the plugs of cold or unborated water formed in a single loop
are mixed in the downcomer and in the lower plenum.

To simulate such mixture phenomena requires the application of 3-dimensional CFD (computational fluid dynamics) codes. The
calculations are based on the CFD Code CFX-4. The results of the simulation have to be validated against mixture experiments at
scaled facilities.

Therefore, in the framework of a research project funded by BMBF, the institute created a 1:5 mixture facility representing first the
geometry of a German pressurized water reactor and later the European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) geometry.