CFD simulation of particle deposition on an array of spheres using an Euler/Lagrange approach

The Generation IV Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) is being considered as a promising concept to produce electricity or process heat with high efficiencies and unique safety features. The PBMR is a high-temperature, helium-cooled, graphite moderated reactor. The fuel elements consist of 6 cm diameter spherical graphite “pebbles” containing each thousands of uranium dioxide microspheres. pebbles continually rub against one another in the core, a significant quantity of graphite dust can be released in the reactor coolant system. These dust particles, which contain some amounts of fission products, are transported and deposited on pebbles as well as primary circuit surfaces. It is therefore of great safety interest to develop and benchmark numerical approaches for predicting deposition of dust particles in the various locations of the PBMR primary circuit. s investigation, we use the ANSYS-Fluent CFD code to simulate particulate flows around linear arrays of spheres and compare deposition rates against experiments. It is found that the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) combined with the Continuous Random Walk (CRW) to supply fluctuating velocity components predicts deposition rates that are generally within the scatter of the data. The methodology developed here can therefore be used to predict to first order the graphite dust deposition rates on pebbles in PBMR-type reactors.