AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Modeling Aerosol Release from Explosion-Induced Vessel Ruptures for Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing
FRED GELBARD, Alexander Brown, David L. Y. Louie, Chengcheng Feng, Nathan E. Bixler, Sandia National Laboratories
Abstract Number: 59 Working Group: Aerosol Sources from Emerging Energy Technologies and Production
Abstract An accidental explosion in a chemical reprocessing vessel for spent nuclear fuel may not only rupture the vessel, but also form some radioactive aerosol from the solution in the vessel. For a safety analysis, there is a need for simulations and data to determine the aerosol particle size distribution as a function of the processing fluid properties, equipment dimensions, and explosive energy.
In this work, we model from basic principles the creation of aerosols from the initial explosion to release. We use a Lagrangian, three-dimensional, explicit, transient code to model the large deformations and short time scales of the structural response. The solid walls and equipment in the vessel are modeled with finite elements, allowing these elements to deform and separate, but they do not get atomized by the explosion. For short time-scales, the radionuclide solutions are modeled with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) elements, which are coupled to the structural elements.
After the fluid has been ejected and liquid drops have separated, the system is then modeled with a finite element, fluid dynamics code that solves the Navier-Stokes equations for the flow induced by the explosion and the ejected drops. Aerodynamic drop break-up is modeled employing a Lagrangian transport framework coupled to the Eulerian gas phase solvers.
This physics-based approach provides a model of the explosion effects on the radionuclide solution, the rupture or failure of the processing vessel, the forced ejection of the radionuclide solution, and the break-up of the solution to form aerosols. The numerical approach is demonstrated with a simulation of an actual accident.
*Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-AC-94-AL85000. This work was supported under contract with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20005-0001.