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Integrated modeling between FLUENT and RELAP5-3D/ATHENA allows detailed
CFD simulations to be combined with transient, multiphase simulations
of complex reactor systems
In 2001, the Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory
(INEEL) began work on an ambitious project to combine the capability of
FLUENT with that of the RELAP5-3D/ATHENA advanced thermal-hydraulic analysis
code. RELAP5-3D/ATHENA is widely used in the nuclear industry for simulations
involving light water reactor systems, including the steam supply system,
power system facilities, pipe transients, and numerous systems involving
twophase heat and mass transfer.
Now entering the validation and verification stage of the project, INEEL
has demonstrated integrated modeling in which detailed, three-dimensional
analyses performed using FLUENT are dynamically coupled to boundary conditions
and fluid properties provided by a RELAP5-3D/ATHENA balance-of-system
model.
The project at INEEL was motivated
by the need for an advanced analysis
tool that would allow Generation
IV nuclear reactor systems to be modeled
and studied in detail. In addition,
the new tool is applicable to many
other engineering problems – both
in and outside of the nuclear industry.
Using the coupled solution, a
FLUENT model of a boiler combustion
chamber might be linked to a
RELAP5 model of the steam supply
system, leveraging RELAP5’s strength
in 1D modeling of boiling and twophase
phenomena. In addition,
FLUENT simulations will be linked to
the neutronics/reactor kinetics capability
in RELAP5-3D/ATHENA.
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