Grant: Alliance Grants
University of Manitoba
$68,700.00
Aerosol Transport and Deposition for Small Modular Reactor Safety Analysis
FY 2024-25
Summary
A small modular reactor (SMR) has been identified as an attractive source of low-carbon clean energy that can help to meet Canada's climate change goals. Canada can become a leader in the development and deployment of SMRs because of its well-developed nuclear science and technology sector. The safe operation of SMRs relies on an innovative passive cooling system for postulated accident scenarios. There is an inadequate understanding, however, of the accident-scenario operation of the passive cooling system with respect to the complex phenomena involving strong condensation and deposition of radionuclides as aerosols. A reliable software tool is needed to predict the containment flow, heat and mass transfer, and aerosol deposition of a proposed design in an accident scenario to ensure safe operation.
Building on recent success in a collaborative project with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), the proposed project will develop tools to model the aforementioned phenomena in a safety analysis. Commercial and open-source software will be used to develop and assess computational fluid dynamics models of the fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and aerosol transport in a containment-type chamber. The detailed models will predict three-dimensional flow of steam and gas with aerosol particles including condensation on a vertical wall. The models' results will be compared with experiments that were previously conducted at CNL in Chalk River, Ontario. Use of two commercial software packages and one open-source software package will provide thorough information on the capabilities of CFD tools and options for usage by CNL.
The new models will provide important new software tools for SMR safety analysis and will enable CNL to support the development of SMRs. Success for Canada in this high-tech area will lead to jobs and intellectual property as well as being able to deliver on climate change commitments. This project will train two Ph.D. students, one M.Sc. student, and four undergraduate summer interns.
Program
Alliance Grants
Recipient
Location
Manitoba, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
586935-2023
Name nom
Ormiston, Scott SJ
Department département
Mechanical Engineering
Organization id
19
Institution établissement
University of Manitoba
Province en
Manitoba
Province fr
Manitoba
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2024
Competition year année de concours
2023
Award amount
68700
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
302
Area of application group en
Energy resources
Area of application group fr
Ressources d'énergie
Area of application en
Nuclear energy
Area of application fr
Énergie nucléaire
Research subject code
2203
Research subject group en
Fluid mechanics
Research subject group fr
Mécanique des fluides
Research subject en
Modelling, simulation
Research subject fr
Modélisation et simulation
Field of research list names en
Not available
Field of research list names fr
Non disponible
Socioeconomic objective list names en
Not available
Socioeconomic objective list names fr
Non disponible
Application title
Aerosol Transport and Deposition for Small Modular Reactor Safety Analysis
Keywords
aerosol transport and deposition; computational fluid dynamics; condensation heat transfer; diffusiophoresis; model development; passive safety system; small modular reactor
Application summary
A small modular reactor (SMR) has been identified as an attractive source of low-carbon clean energy that can help to meet Canada's climate change goals. Canada can become a leader in the development and deployment of SMRs because of its well-developed nuclear science and technology sector. The safe operation of SMRs relies on an innovative passive cooling system for postulated accident scenarios. There is an inadequate understanding, however, of the accident-scenario operation of the passive cooling system with respect to the complex phenomena involving strong condensation and deposition of radionuclides as aerosols. A reliable software tool is needed to predict the containment flow, heat and mass transfer, and aerosol deposition of a proposed design in an accident scenario to ensure safe operation.
Building on recent success in a collaborative project with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), the proposed project will develop tools to model the aforementioned phenomena in a safety analysis. Commercial and open-source software will be used to develop and assess computational fluid dynamics models of the fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and aerosol transport in a containment-type chamber. The detailed models will predict three-dimensional flow of steam and gas with aerosol particles including condensation on a vertical wall. The models' results will be compared with experiments that were previously conducted at CNL in Chalk River, Ontario. Use of two commercial software packages and one open-source software package will provide thorough information on the capabilities of CFD tools and options for usage by CNL.
The new models will provide important new software tools for SMR safety analysis and will enable CNL to support the development of SMRs. Success for Canada in this high-tech area will lead to jobs and intellectual property as well as being able to deliver on climate change commitments. This project will train two Ph.D. students, one M.Sc. student, and four undergraduate summer interns.
