Preliminary numerical studies of an experimental facility for heat removal in natural circulation

In recent years particular attention has been dedicated to passive safety systems for heat removal in nuclear power plants. Passive safety systems can achieve a high level of safety, as they carry out their mission relying solely on physical principles like natural circulation, without any need of operators or energy sources. To qualify these systems and components experimental activities are necessary to study and to understand the governing physical phenomena. The present paper shows the design of an experimental facility to be installed in the laboratories of the Energy Department of Politecnico di Torino. The facility is inspired by the decay heat removal system for ALFRED reactor and comprehends a heated bayonet tube and a heat sink for the heat removal (a heat exchanger inside a pool). The thermal power is in the order of 1 kW. A RELAP5-3D model of the facility has been developed and sensitivity analyses were performed to highlight the geometry of the heat exchanger, the final heat sink, and the mass of water inside the loop. The results of this phase serve to understand the physical limits of the facility, to demonstrate a preliminary feasibility and to optimize the geometry for the desired operating conditions.