Estimating steady state and transient characteristics of molten salt natural circulation loop using CFD

The steady state and transient characteristics of a molten salt natural circulation loop (NCL) are obtained by 3D CFD simulations. The working fluid is a mixture of NaNO3 and KNO3 in 60:40 ratio. Simulation is performed using PHOENICS CFD software. The computational domain is discretized by a body fitted grid generated using in-built mesh generator. The CFD model includes primary side. Primary side fluid is subjected to heat addition in heater section, heat loss to ambient (in piping connecting heater and cooler) and to secondary side (in cooler section). Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations are solved along with the standard k-epsilon turbulence model. Validation of the model is done by comparing the computed steady state Reynolds number with that predicted by various correlations proposed previously. Transient simulations were carried out to study the flow initiations transients for different heater powers and different configurations. Similarly the "power raising" transient is computed and compared with in-house experimental data. It is found that, using detailed information obtained from 3D transient CFD simulations, it is possible to understand the physics of oscillatory flow patterns obtained in the loop under certain conditions.