definition of thermal hydraulics parameters of a …

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2017 International Nuclear Atlantic Conference - INAC 2017 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, October 22-27, 2017 ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE ENERGIA NUCLEAR ABEN DEFINITION OF THERMAL-HYDRAULICS PARAMETERS OF A NAVAL PWR VIA ENERGY BALANCE OF A WESTINGHOUSE PWR Luiz C. Chaves, Marcos F. Curi Department of Mechanical Engineering Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca Rodovia Mário Covas, lote J2, quadra J 23812-101 Rio de Janeiro, RJ [email protected] ABSTRACT In this work, we used the operational parameters of the Angra 1 nuclear power plant, designed by Westinghouse, to estimate the thermal-hydraulic parameters for naval nuclear propulsion, focusing on the analysis of the reactor and steam generator. A thermodynamics analysis was made to reach the operational parameters of primary circuit such as pressure, temperature, power generated among others. Previous studies available in literature of 2-loop Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants, which is based on a PWR and similar to Angra 1, support this analysis in the sense of a correct procedure to deal with many complex processes to energy generation from a nuclear source. Temperature profiles in reactor and steam generator were studied with concepts of heat transfer, fluid mechanics and also some concepts of nuclear systems, showing the behavior into them. In this simulation, the Angra 1 primary circuit was reduced on a scale of 1: 3.5 to fit in a Scorpène-class submarine. The reactor generates 85.7 MW of total thermal power. The maximum power and temperatures reached were lower than the operational safe limits established by Westinghouse. The number of tubes of the steam generator was determined in 990 U-tubes with 6.3 m of average length. 1. INTRODUCTION The Scorpène-class submarine, designed by DCNS, is designed to be able to add an extra AIP (Air-Independent Propulsion) module to increase the autonomy of the submarine without the need to return to the surface to feed the diesel engines with air. Thus, using operational parameters of the Angra 1 nuclear power plant, a simulation of the thermal hydraulic parameters of a naval nuclear propulsion was made for a hypothetical replacement of the AIP module by a nuclear module. An analysis of the mass and energy balance of the primary circuit of a PWR power plant was made through thermodynamics, heat transfer and nuclear systems concepts. The study is based on literature involved in 2-loop Westinghouse plants and the use of properties such as pressure, temperature, flow, among other data available in [1,4], aiming for reliable results to use in the primary circuit of a submarine. An initial simulation is applied to a hypothetical nuclear submarine, based on a Scorpène- class [8], using predefined operating parameters of Angra 1. The primary system of Angra 1 was reduced on a 1 : 3.5 scale to fit in a submarine. Thus, all thermodynamic parameters were recalculated in order to obtain the new thermal power system, in accordance with the space limitations of a submarine. Some data of INS Arihant, available in [10], were used to compare with calculated parameters.

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2017 International Nuclear Atlantic Conference - INAC 2017

Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, October 22-27, 2017 ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE ENERGIA NUCLEAR – ABEN

DEFINITION OF THERMAL-HYDRAULICS PARAMETERS OF A

NAVAL PWR VIA ENERGY BALANCE OF A WESTINGHOUSE PWR

Luiz C. Chaves, Marcos F. Curi

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca

Rodovia Mário Covas, lote J2, quadra J

23812-101 Rio de Janeiro, RJ

[email protected]

ABSTRACT

In this work, we used the operational parameters of the Angra 1 nuclear power plant, designed by Westinghouse,

to estimate the thermal-hydraulic parameters for naval nuclear propulsion, focusing on the analysis of the

reactor and steam generator. A thermodynamics analysis was made to reach the operational parameters of

primary circuit such as pressure, temperature, power generated among others. Previous studies available in

literature of 2-loop Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants, which is based on a PWR and similar to Angra 1,

support this analysis in the sense of a correct procedure to deal with many complex processes to energy

generation from a nuclear source. Temperature profiles in reactor and steam generator were studied with

concepts of heat transfer, fluid mechanics and also some concepts of nuclear systems, showing the behavior into

them. In this simulation, the Angra 1 primary circuit was reduced on a scale of 1: 3.5 to fit in a Scorpène-class

submarine. The reactor generates 85.7 MW of total thermal power. The maximum power and temperatures

reached were lower than the operational safe limits established by Westinghouse. The number of tubes of the

steam generator was determined in 990 U-tubes with 6.3 m of average length.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Scorpène-class submarine, designed by DCNS, is designed to be able to add an extra AIP

(Air-Independent Propulsion) module to increase the autonomy of the submarine without the

need to return to the surface to feed the diesel engines with air. Thus, using operational

parameters of the Angra 1 nuclear power plant, a simulation of the thermal hydraulic

parameters of a naval nuclear propulsion was made for a hypothetical replacement of the AIP

module by a nuclear module.

An analysis of the mass and energy balance of the primary circuit of a PWR power plant was

made through thermodynamics, heat transfer and nuclear systems concepts. The study is

based on literature involved in 2-loop Westinghouse plants and the use of properties such as

pressure, temperature, flow, among other data available in [1,4], aiming for reliable results to

use in the primary circuit of a submarine.

An initial simulation is applied to a hypothetical nuclear submarine, based on a Scorpène-

class [8], using predefined operating parameters of Angra 1. The primary system of Angra 1

was reduced on a 1 : 3.5 scale to fit in a submarine. Thus, all thermodynamic parameters were

recalculated in order to obtain the new thermal power system, in accordance with the space

limitations of a submarine. Some data of INS Arihant, available in [10], were used to

compare with calculated parameters.

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

2. METHODOLOGY USED FOR THIS ANALYSIS

The simplified PWR power plant, as [3], is showing in Figure 1:

Figure 1: Simplified flowchart of typical PWR plant. [3]

To make this analysis, the primary circuit was divided in two control volumes, as showing in

Figure 2.

Figure 2: Simplified primary circuit with analyzed control volumes. [3]

Control Volume 1 contains the nuclear fuel. This analysis was made from Newton's and

Fourier's laws [2], with concepts of nuclear systems [3]. Nuclear fuel was analyzed in three

steps, which are: fuel rods, reactor core and coolant. Volume Control 2 contains all the

primary circuit equipments. In this work only the reactor and steam generator were analyzed.

This analysis was made from the first law of thermodynamics (for reactor) and analysis of

heat exchangers without phase change (for SG). All the following equations were developed

to be possible to modeling the temperature profiles in Microsoft Excel software.

Reactor

Pressurizer

Steam

Generator

Reactor

Coolant

Pump

Condensed

Pump

Turbine Generator

Condenser

Electricity

Water source /

atmosphere

Nuclear

Fuel Reactor SG

RCP

PZR

SG

Control Volume 1

Control Volume 2

𝑇𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙

𝑄 at

𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡

𝑄 at

𝑊 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝑊 𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

2.1. Analysis of Control Volume 1

2.1.1. Fuel rods analysis

The first step was determining the temperature profiles on the fuel rods, as shown in Figure 3,

using the following equations developed according [3].

∆𝑇𝑓 =𝑞′′′

𝑓

4𝑘𝑓𝑎2 (1)

∆𝑇𝑔 =𝑞′′′

𝑓. (𝑎 + 𝑔)

2ℎ𝑔 (2)

∆𝑇𝑐𝑙 =𝑞′′′

𝑓. 𝑎²

2 ln (

𝑎 + 𝑔 + 𝑏𝑎 + 𝑔 )

𝑘𝑐𝑙

(3)

Where 𝑞′′′𝑓 is the power density of the nuclear fuel [W/m³], ∆𝑇𝑓 is the temperature variation

in the fuel pellet [°C], ∆𝑇𝑔 is the temperature variation in the gap between fuel pellet and

cladding [°C], ∆𝑇𝑐𝑙 is the temperature variation in the cladding [°C], 𝑘𝑓 is the thermal

conductivity of the fuel pellet [W/m.°C], ℎ𝑔 is the thermal conductance of the gap with

pressurized Helium [W/m².°C] and 𝑘𝑐𝑙 is the thermal conductivity of the cladding [W/m.°C]

Figure 3: Temperature distribution on the fuel rod

Temperature

distribution

∆𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑣𝑔

Flow

direction

∆𝑇𝑓

∆𝑇𝑐𝑙

∆𝑇𝑔

𝑎 𝑏

𝑔

𝑧

𝑟 𝜃

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

The maximum temperature on the fuel pellet centerline depends on the local coolant average

temperature and is given by sum of the temperature variations in the fuel, gap, cladding and

the coolant itself, as following:

𝑇𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥=

𝑞′′′𝑓

2 [𝑎²

2𝑘𝑓+(𝑎 + 𝑔)

ℎ𝑔+𝑎². ln (

𝑎 + 𝑔 + 𝑏𝑎 + 𝑔 )

𝑘𝑐𝑙+(𝑎 + 𝑔 + 𝑏)

ℎ𝑐,𝑐𝑙] + 𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑣𝑔 (4)

Where 𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑣𝑔 is the coolant average temperature [°C] and ℎ𝑐,𝑐𝑙 is the convective coefficient

between coolant and cladding [W/m².°C].

2.1.2. Reactor core analysis

According to [3], the power distribution in a homogeneous reactor core follows a Bessel and

cosine function, as shown in Figure 4:

Figure 4: Power generation profiles according multiplying factors. [3]

Thus, the second step was to determine the power density profiles in the reactor core. The

power density in a homogeneous cylindrical core, according to [3], is given by:

𝑞′′′(𝑟, 𝑧) = 𝑞′′′𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐽0 (2,405𝑟

𝑅𝑒) cos (

𝜋𝑧

𝐿𝑒) (5)

0

0,5

1

-0,5 -0,3 -0,1 0,1 0,3 0,5

Mu

ltip

lyin

g f

act

or

Core radial position (r)

Bessel

-0,5

-0,3

-0,1

0,1

0,3

0,5

00,51

Core

ax

ial

posi

tion

(z)

Multiplying factor

Cosine

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Where 𝑞′′′𝑚𝑎𝑥 is the maximum core power density [W/m³], 𝐽0 is the zero order Bessel

function, 𝑟 is the core radial position, with ris the0 at center [m], 𝑅𝑒is the core extrapolated

radius [m], 𝑧 is the core axial position, with zis the0 at middle point [m] and 𝐿𝑒is the core

extrapolated length [m]. Extrapolated dimensions considered equal to physical dimensions.

Looking at Figure 4 is possible to note that the maximum core power density is located in the

middle of the axial and radial position. According to [5], the average core power density

(without considering the neutron flux analysis) is given by:

𝑞′′′𝑎𝑣𝑔 = Q 𝑡𝑜𝑡. 𝐹𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟

𝐿𝑒 . 𝑁𝑓𝑟 . 𝜋. 𝑎2 (6)

Where 𝑄 𝑡𝑜𝑡 is the total reactor thermal power [W], “𝑎” is the radius of fuel pellet [m], 𝑁𝑓𝑟 is

the number of fuel rods and 𝐹𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟 is the Fraction of heat generated in fuel [%]. Note that is

possible to determine the average linear power (𝑞′𝑎𝑣𝑔) multiplying the Equation 6 by 𝜋. 𝑎2

and the total reactor thermal power (Q 𝑡𝑜𝑡) can be obtained by thermodynamics first law.

2.1.3. Coolant analysis

The third step was determining the coolant temperature distribution along the core length, by

an energy balance on coolant, using core power distribution cited above. Note that the coolant

inlet temperature shall be known. This profile can be modeled by the following equation:

𝑇𝑐2𝑎𝑣𝑔(𝑧) = 𝑇𝑐1 + 0,61135 (𝑎2𝑞′′′

𝑚𝑎𝑥 . 𝐿𝑒

𝑚 𝑐𝑐𝑝) (𝑠𝑒𝑛 (

𝜋𝑧

𝐿𝑒) + 1) (7)

Where 𝑇𝑐1 is the coolant inlet temperature [°C], 𝑇𝑐2𝑎𝑣𝑔 is the average coolant temperature at

specified position [°C], 𝑚 𝑐 is the coolant mass flow in a single channel [kg/s] and 𝑐𝑝 is the

coolant specific heat [kJ/kg.°C].

2.2. Analysis of Control Volume 2

The total thermal power of the reactor can be obtained by applying the thermodynamics first

law in the reactor, as follows:

𝑄 𝑡𝑜𝑡 = 𝑚 𝑡𝑜𝑡(ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 − ℎ𝑖𝑛)𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 (8)

Where 𝑚 𝑡𝑜𝑡 is the total coolant mass flow through reactor [kg/s] and ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 , ℎ𝑖𝑛 is the coolant

enthalpy at reactor outlet and inlet, respectively [kJ/kg].

In order to optimize the analysis of the steam generator, the heat transfer from primary to

secondary circuit was studied assuming that the inlet tubes (Part 1) was considered as a

parallel current heat exchanger and the outlet tubes (Part 2) was considered as a

countercurrent heat exchanger, as shown in Figure 5.

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Figure 5: Selection of parts for steam generator analysis.

For the Part 1, a typical profile of the parallel current heat exchanger was analyzed to obtain a

general equation to model it in software Microsoft Excel, as following:

Figure 6: Analysis of a typical profile of the parallel current heat exchanger.

Through this analysis it was possible to develop the general equation of the parallel current

heat exchanger [6]. The following equation can be modeled in Microsoft Excel software:

𝑑𝑇𝑝

𝑑𝐴+ 𝑈.𝑿′. 𝑇𝑝 = −

𝑚 𝑝. 𝑐𝑝𝑝

𝑚 𝑠. 𝑐𝑝𝑠 𝑑𝑇𝑝

𝑑𝐴+ 𝑈.𝑿′. (𝑇𝑠𝑖 +

𝑚 𝑝. 𝑐𝑝𝑝

𝑚 𝑠. 𝑐𝑝𝑠 . (𝑇𝑝𝑖 − 𝑇𝑝)) (9)

𝑿′ = (1

𝑚 𝑝. 𝑐𝑝𝑝+

1

𝑚 𝑠. 𝑐𝑝𝑠)

Part 1: Studied by

considering as a

parallel current heat

exchanger

Part 2: Studied by

considering as a

countercurrent heat

exchanger

Tpi

Tsi

dTp

dTs

dQ = ṁ.Cp.dT

dA

Tpo

Tso

Area

Tem

per

ature

Tp

Ts

With

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

For the Part 2, a typical profile of the countercurrent heat exchanger was analyzed to obtain a

general equation to model it in software Microsoft Excel, as following:

Figure 7: Analysis of a typical profile of the countercurrent heat exchanger.

Through this analysis it was possible to develop the general equation of the countercurrent

heat exchanger [6]. The following equation can be modeled in Microsoft Excel software:

𝑑𝑇𝑝

𝑑𝐴+ 𝑈.𝑿′′. 𝑇𝑝 =

𝑚 𝑝. 𝑐𝑝𝑝

𝑚 𝑠. 𝑐𝑝𝑠 𝑑𝑇𝑝

𝑑𝐴+ 𝑈.𝑿′′. (𝑇𝑠𝑖 +

𝑚 𝑝. 𝑐𝑝𝑝

𝑚 𝑠. 𝑐𝑝𝑠 . (𝑇𝑝 − 𝑇𝑝𝑜)) (10)

𝑿′′ = (1

𝑚 𝑝. 𝑐𝑝𝑝−

1

𝑚 𝑠. 𝑐𝑝𝑠)

Where 𝑑𝐴 is the infinitesimal area of heat transfer [m²], 𝑈 is the overall heat transfer

coefficient [W/m².°C], subscripts .𝑝 , .𝑠 refers to primary and secondary fluid respectively,

subscripts .𝑝𝑖 , .𝑝𝑜 refers to primary fluid inlet and outlet respectively, and subscripts .𝑠𝑖 , .𝑠𝑜

refers to secondary fluid inlet and outlet respectively.

The overall heat transfer coefficient (𝑈) depends on the convective coefficient of the primary

circuit and the secondary circuit, which are determined by the number of Reynolds, Nusselt,

Prandtl and friction factor of the flow tubes, internally and externally. In this study, the

Nusselt number was obtained by Gnielinski correlation [2]:

𝑁𝑢3 =(𝑓8)

(𝑅𝑒 − 1000)𝑃𝑟

1 + 12,7 (𝑓8)

0,5

(𝑃𝑟23 − 1)

(11)

Where 𝑓 is the tube friction factor (obtained by Moody chart)

It’s important to note that the equations 8 and 9 must be applied only in the subcooled region

of the secondary fluid. In other words, it should be used only where the secondary fluid

presents single phase.

dTp

dTs

Tpo

Tsi

Tem

per

ature

Area

dQ = ṁ.Cp.dT

Tp

Ts

dA

Tpi

Tso

With

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

To fit in a Scorpène Class submarine, with 11.7 m diameter [10], the Angra 1 primary circuit

was reduced on a 1 : 3.5 scale. Therefore, the geometric parameters were recalculated. Thus

the core active length has changed from 3.66m to 1.049m, the tubes internal diameter of the

primary circuit has changed from 0.737m to 0.215m and the average SG tubes length has

changed from 22.1m to 6.3m. This reduce is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Illustration of the scale reduction of the Angra 1 primary circuit.

According to [1], when the coolant inside the tubes reaches a velocity around 15 m/s, the tube

corrosion begins to be severe. Thus, the coolant mass flow in a single loop was determined

assuming a velocity of 7.5 m/s and was defined as 203.5 kg/s. Therefore, the total flow

through reactor was defined as 407 kg/s.

Using the thermodynamics tables with the Equation 7, the total thermal power generated in

the reactor was calculated and defined as a value of 85.7 MWt.

Table 1 contains the main data required for the analysis of the submarine reactor to determine

the temperatures profiles. Note that the analysis was based on Angra 1 operational

parameters:

29

,2 m

11

,7 m

1,9

5 m

8,3

4 m

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Table 1: Parameters of Angra 1 reactor core used for this analysis. [1,3,4,7]

Operational Data of the Angra 1 Reactor Core

Fraction of heat generation in fuel [%] 97,4

Nominal pressure [kgf/cm²] 158

Fuel rods per assembly 235

Fuel rods average linear power [kW/m] 17,6

Coolant temperature at the reactor inlet [°C] 287,5

Coolant temperature at the reactor outlet [°C] 324,3

PWR 16 X 16 Fuel Assembly

Pellet diameter at BOC / MOC [mm] 8,23 / 8,38

Gap at BOC / MOC [mm] 0,086 / 0,010

Cladding thickness [mm] 0,535

Convective coefficient water-cladding [W/m².K] 34000

UO2 Thermal Conductivity [W/m.K] 2,163

Cladding thermal conductivity [W/m.K] 13,85

Thermal conductivity in gap [W/m.K] 0,4902

By the Equation 6 adapted to use the value of fuel rods average linear power of Angra 1, was

possible to determine the quantity of fuel assemblies following the concept of a cylindrical

core. The number of fuel assemblies was defined as 21. Therefore, the number of fuel rods

was defined as 4935. The cylindrical core defined for this reactor is shown in Figure 9:

Figure 9: Illustration of the cylindrical core found in this analysis.

Through the Equation 6 it was possible to determine the new value of the fuel rods average

linear power, defined as 16.12 kW/m, and the average core power density, defined as 303.1

MW/m³ at reactor startup (BOC) and 292.3 MW/m³ during normal operation (MOC).

By integrating the Bessel and cosine functions it was possible to obtain the mean values of

multiplication factors, defined as 0.611351 for the Bessel function and 0.63662 for the cosine

function. Thus, the value of the maximum core power density was defined as 779 MW/m³ at

BOC and 751MW/m³ at MOC.

Equations 1, 2, 3 and 4 provide us the following behaviors at BOC and MOC:

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Figure 10: Temperature profiles on fuel rod and reactor core at BOC and MOC.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

0 0,948 1,896 2,844 3,792 4,74

Tem

per

atu

re [

°C]

Radial position of fuel rod [mm]

Temperature profile at BOC /m³

Fuel pellet Gap Cladding

Gap

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

0 0,948 1,896 2,844 3,792 4,74

Radial position of fuel rod [mm]

Temperature profile at MO

Fuel pellet Gap Cladding

Gap

280

780

1280

1780

2280

-0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0 0,2 0,4 0,6

Tem

per

atu

re [

°C]

Core axial position [m]

Perfis de temperaturas para

750MW/m³ - BOC

280

780

1280

1780

2280

-0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0 0,2 0,4 0,6

Core axial position[m]

Perfis de temperaturas para

750MW/m³ - MOC

287

327

367

407

447

-0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0 0,2 0,4 0,6

Tem

per

atu

re [

°C]

Core axial position [m]

Coolant Cladding Surface

287

327

367

407

447

-0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0 0,2 0,4 0,6

Core axial position [m]

Fuel Surface Fuel Centerline

Fuel rods temperature profiles at 𝒒′′′𝒎𝒂𝒙

BOC – 779 MW/m³ MOC – 751 MW/m³

Temperature profiles along reactor core length

BOC – 779 MW/m³ MOC – 751 MW/m³

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Table 2 contains the required main data to Steam Generator analysis and to determine the

temperatures profiles:

Table 2: Angra 1 power plant steam generator data. [1,4]

Steam Generators operational data

Primary side pressure [kgf/cm²] 158

Secondary side pressure [kgf/cm²] 64,7

Primary side inlet temperature [°C] 324,3

Primary side outlet temperature [°C] 287,5

Feedwater inlet temperature [°C] 221,1

Steam outlet temperature [°C] 279,2

Steam outlet quality 0,999

Tube wall thickness [mm] 1,05

Inconel tubes thermal conductivity [W/m.°C] 12,1

Using the Equations 9, 10 and 11 it was possible to model the profiles in Microsoft Excel

software by iterations on values of the heat exchange area to determine the number of tubes

that are required to reach the operational parameters. Thus, around 990 tubes of 19,05mm

external diameter were required to these conditions.

The temperature profiles of the tubes subcooled regions are shown in the following figure.

The length of the tubes required for the secondary fluid to begin phase change was

determined at 451 mm as shown in Figure 11:

Figure 11: Temperature profile in the subcooled region of Parts 1 and 2.

The overall temperature profile in the SG tubes is shown in Figure 12. Note that in the phase

change region of the secondary fluid, the effects caused by the boiling have been neglected.

This causes the primary fluid temperature decrease following a linear behavior, while the

secondary fluid maintains the temperature during the phase change.

220

240

260

280

300

320

340

5,8 5,9 6 6,1 6,2 6,3

Tem

per

atu

re (

°C)

Tube length (m)

Primary Secondary

220

240

260

280

300

320

340

0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5

Tem

per

atu

re (

°C)

Tube length (m)

Primary Secondary

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Figure 12: Overall temperature profiles in SG tubes.

With the results of the analysis, was possible to develop the following table with comparative

data between studied submarine, Angra 1 and the INS Arihant to evaluate the encountered

results:

Table 3: Comparative data of nuclear submarine primary/secondary circuit

Reactor Submarine Angra1[1,4] INS Arihant* [10]

Power generated in the reactor (MWth) 85,7 1882 83

Submarine’s hull width (m) 11,7 --- 11

Number of fuel elements 21 121 13

Fuel rods in each element 235 235 348

Number of fuel rods 4935 28435 4524

Piping average diameter (mm) 215 737 ---

Average coolant flow (kg/s) 407 8950 ---

Fuel assemblies active length (m) 1,049 3,66 ---

Steam Generator Submarine Angra1[1,4] INS Arihant* [10]

Rejected heat in each SG (MWth) 42,85 943,14 ---

Secondary coolant average flow (kg/s) 23,41 515 ---

Approximated number of tubes 990 5428 ---

Tubes average length (m) 6,3 22,1 ---

Tubes external diameter (mm) 19,05 19,05 ---

* INS Arihant is India's first nuclear-powered submarine

4. CONCLUSIONS

The methodology used to calculate the thermodynamic parameters of the primary circuit of a

submarine was considered satisfactory, since the energy generated in the reactor is

comparable to the reactors used for naval propulsion [10,11] and the maximum values of

power and temperature found are lower than the limits set for safe operation [5].

The height of the SG tubes where the secondary fluid reaches saturation represents about

15% of the total height. Only for this value evaluation, assuming a constant variation of the

200

220

240

260

280

300

320

340

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Tem

per

atu

re (

°C)

Average tube length (m)

Primary Secondary

INAC 2017, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

secondary fluid enthalpy, the saturation point is also about 15% of the total. Thus, the value

found was considered satisfactory.

Studies related to technology involving nuclear energy contribute to the Brazilian economic

and technological development. According to [12], a technology transfer agreement signed

between Brazil and France in 2009 provides for the construction of a Scorpène class nuclear

submarine. It will be the first Brazilian nuclear submarine and its construction is an entry card

for the select group of countries that dominate nuclear technology.

REFERENCES

1. Eletronuclear. Nuclear Power Plant Basic Systems – SBUN, Eletrobras Termonuclear SA,

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2014).

2. Incropera, Frank P, et al. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer 6th Edition, LTC, Rio

de Janeiro, Brazil (2008).

3. TODREAS, Neil E and KAZIMI, Mujid S. Nuclear Systems: Thermalhydraulic

Fundamentals, CRC Press, Florida, United States (2011).

4. Westinghouse, The Westinghouse Pressurized Water Reactor Nuclear Power Plant,

Westinghouse Nuclear Operations Division, Pennsylvania, United States (2005).

5. Westinghouse, Power Distribution Limits, Westinghouse Electric Corporation,

Pennsylvania, United States (2008).

6. Seleghim, Paulo J., Determining of temperature profiles by numerical solution of energy

balance differential equations, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG7HD9wmHGM

(2014).

7. NUREG-1754, A New Comparative Analysis of LWR Fuel Designs, Office of Nuclear

Regulatory Research, Washington DC, United States (2001).

8. Poder Naval, “Brazilian Nuclear Submarine: Quo Vadis?”

http://www.naval.com.br/blog/destaque/submarinos/submarino-nuclear-brasileiro-quo-

vadis/ (2008).

9. Deagel, “Scorpene Basic-AIP Specifications”, http://www.deagel.com/Fighting-

Ships/Scorpene-Basic-AIP_a000425003.aspx (2012).

10. Naval-Technology.com, “SSBN Arihant Class Submarine, India” http://www.naval-

technology.com/projects/arihant-class/ (2017).

11. Ragheb, Magdi. Nuclear Marine Propulsion, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York

United States (2010).

12. Padilha, Luiz, “Brazilian Nuclear Submarine ‘Alvaro Alberto’ SN 10”,

http://www.defesaaereanaval.com.br/submarino-nuclear-brasileiro-alvaro-alberto-sn-10/

(2012).