Lectures on Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear Energy Engineering

Lecture No 03

Title:
TH Design of Fuel Assemblies with Variable Thermal Conductivity

SH2701 HT23

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 1
 Outline of the Lecture
• Heat conduction and temperature distribution in fuel rods
with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity
• Fuel restructuring
• Fuel-cladding gap behavior
• Cladding thermal analysis
• Coolant-to-cladding heat transfer with crud deposition

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 2
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• The following assumptions are made in the thermal
analysis:
• radial distribution of heat sources in a pin is uniform (no
neutronic self-shielding within a pin)
• heat conduction in the axial direction is small and can be
neglected

• With theses assumptions, the conduction

equation in a fuel pin is as follows:

1 d  dTF ( r ) 
 F
r  = − q(z )
r dr  dr 

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 3
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• The following two boundary conditions are needed:
dTF
(1) =0 Symmetry at
the centerline
dr r =0

(2) TF r = rFo
= TFo Constant temperature
at pellet surface

• Integration of the equation yields

r2
+ q(z ) = C1
dTF (r )
rF
dr 2
and from boundary condition (1), C1 = 0.

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 4
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• The second integration yields:

F dTF + q(z )
TFo rFo r
T (r ) r 2
dr = 0

• We can see that if the thermal conducti-

vity as a function of temperature is known
and the temperature at the pellet surface
is given, temperature at any radius r can
be found from the following equation:
q(z ) 2

TFo
T (r )
F dTF =
4
(
rFo − r 2 )
Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 5
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• In particular, for r = 0 (at the centerline) we get:
TFc q(z )rFo
2
TFc – temperature at
TFo F dTF = 4 the centerline

• We can introduce into this equation the

linear power q’, which is related to the
power density q’’’ as follows:
q(z ) = q(z )rFo
2

• Thus:

q( z ) = 4  F dTF
TFc

TFo

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 6
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• We obtained a relationship between the linear power and
the fuel maximum temperature (at centerline):

q( z ) = 4  F dTF
TFc

TFo

• However, to find the value of q’, we need to perform the

integration. For that, we need to know the function F (TF )

• For various types of fuels, this function is given in

analytical form based on experimental data

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 7
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• For mixed oxide fuel (80% U, 20% Pu) at 95%
theoretical density and O/M (oxigen/metal)=2.0, the fuel
thermal conductivity can be given as (Washington, 1973)

F (T ) = (0.042 + 2.7110 T ) + 6.9 10−11T 3

−4 −1

where λF is in W/m∙K and T in K. For porosity different

from 5%, the thermal conductivity is found as:
 1 − 2 .5 p
 F (T ) 0.875 p  0.1
Fp (T ) =  1− p
F (T ) p  0.1
 0.875(1 + 2 p )
Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 8
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
Thermal con-
ductivity of
80% U+20% Pu
for various poro-
sities p, with
O/M=2.0

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 9
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• Typical design tasks for fuel pin can be as follows:

(1) given linear power and pellet surface temperature,

find the pellet maximum temperature at the centerline

(2) knowing the pellet surface temperature and the fuel

melting temperature, calculate the maximum allowed
linear power before fuel starts melting

• To solve (1), we use a so-called conductivity integral,

IC:
I C (T )   F dTF
T Tref – arbitrary
Tref reference temperature

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 10
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• Using the conductivity integral, we have:


q( z ) = 4  F dTF = 4   F dTF +  F dTF  =
TFc TFc Tref

TFo  Tref TFo 


4   F dTF −  F dTF  = 4 I C (TFc ) − I C (TFo )
TFc TFo

 Tref Tref 

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 11
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• The conductivity integral can be obtained in an analytical
form (for 80%U+20%Pu with porosity 5%) as follows:

−11

I C (T )   F dTF =
T

Tref
1
2.7110 − 4
ln (0 .042 + 2.71  10 −4
T)+
6.9
4
10
T 4

−11

−
1
2.7110 − 4
ln 0. (
042 + 2.71  10 −4
T )
ref −
6.9
4
10
T 4
ref

This function is often represented in a graph (for various

porosities)

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 12
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
Conductivity
Integral IC of
80% U+20% Pu
for various poro-
sities p, with
O/M=2.0 and
assuming
Tref = 773 K

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 13
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
• For solid UO2 with 95% density the recommended
equation for the thermal conductivity is
 16.35 
F (T ) =
100 6400
+ exp − 
7.5408 + 17.692t + 3.6142t 2
t 52
 t 
• where λF is in W/m∙K , t = T/1000 and T is temperature in
K. For porosity different from 5%, the thermal
conductivity is found as:
p Here λ0 is the thermal conductivity of fully dense UO2 (that is p
0 =
1 − (2.6 − 0.5t ) p = 0) and λp is the thermal conductivity of UO2 with porosity p.

1 − ( 2.6 − 0.5t ) p
 p = 0 1 − ( 2.6 − 0.5t ) p  = F (T )
1 − ( 2.6 − 0.5t ) 0.05
Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 14
 Fuel Thermal Analysis
Thermal conductivity of UO2

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 15
 Conductivity Integral for UO2
I C (T )  
T
F dTF
Tref =773K

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 16
 Conductivity Integral for UO2

I C (T )  
T
F dTF
Tref =773K

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 17
 Fuel Thermal Analysis

Conductivity integral to melt (CIM) is defined as

Tm
CIM =   (T )dT
773K
F

Here Tm is the melting temperature (for example, UO2 (3120 K ±30K))

The linear power density at which fuel will start melting is thus related
to CIM as follows


qm (z ) = 4  F dTF = 4   F dTF −  F dTF  =
Tm Tm TFo

TFo  773K 773K 

4  CIM −  F dTF  = 4 CIM − I C (TFo )
 TFo

 773K 
Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 18
 CIM for UO2
Tm
CIM =   (T )dT
773K
F

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 19
 Fuel Smeared Density
• A parameter called smear density is used in calculating
atom densities for the fuel

• The smeared density is the density of the fuel if it were

uniformly spread or smeared throughout the inside of the
cladding
Fuel as manufactured
With a gas gap Smeared fuel

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 20
 Effect of Fuel Restructuring
• Metal, carbide and nitride fuels do not restructure and
the previously discussed procedure holds
• Mixed oxide fuels do restructure at high temperatures
and this must be taken into account in the thermal
analysis, especially for fast reactors, where fuel may
have higher temperature near the center

• The most important effects are creation of central void,

changes in thermal conductivity, density and volumetric
heat generation rates in the columnar and equiaxed
regions (see next slide)

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 21
 Effect of Fuel Restructuring

Due to porosity loss in the

columnar and equiaxed
regions, the local fuel
density will increase.

1- Columnar grains Central r0 r1 r2 rFo

void

2 - Equiaxed grains

3 - As-fabricated

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 22
 Effect of Fuel Restructuring
• Density change in regions 1 and 2 are causing changes
of the volumetric power density

• Since the linear power is not affected by fuel

restructuring, the volumetric power densities in regions 1
through 3 are as follows:

q q1 1 q 1 q  2
q3 = q = 2 =  q1= 2 q2 = 2
 rFo q 3  rFo 3 rFo  3

• With these new values, conduction equation can be

solved in each region

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 23
 Effect of Fuel Restructuring
• The radii and the densities in the restructured regions
are related according to the following mass conservation
equation

1 (r12 − r02 ) +  2 (r22 − r12 ) = 3r22

• Using this, one can solve conduction equations in all

regions. In region 3 (unrestructured fuel) we get:

qr qrFo T2 q   r2  
2

TFo F 3dT = 4 1 −  rFo  

dT C
F 3 =− + =− C =0
dr rFo 2 rFo r rFo 2
 
here T2 is the temperature at r=r2
Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 24
 Effect of Fuel Restructuring
• In region 2 (equiaxed fuel) we get:

T1 q  2  r2 
2
  r 2    r 
T2 F 2dT = 4 3  rFo  1 −  1  − 21 − 3  ln 2 
  r2    2  r1 
here T1 is the temperature at r=r1

• In region 1 (columnar fuel) we have:

T0 q 1  r1 
2
  r0 
2
 r0 
2
r1 
T1 F1dT = 4 3  rFo  1 −  r1  − 2 r1  ln r0 
 
here T0 is the fuel temperature at r=r0

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 25
 Fuel-Cladding Gap
• To determine fuel temperature at the center it is
necessary to know the fuel pellet outer temperature TFo

• This temperature can be determined through a

consideration of heat transfer through the fuel-cladding
gap, through cladding and liquid film to the bulk coolant

• Of these three heat transfer barriers, the gap provides

the greatest resistance to heat flow

• Initially, in unirradiated fuel, the gap is open and

temperature drop through it is twice as big as two others
Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 26
 Fuel-Cladding Gap
• After short period of irradiation the gap
z Fuel
closes due to fuel swelling
Gas gap
Clad
• Assuming first the gap as-fabricated
and filled with a stationary gas mixt- rGi TGi(rGi)
ure, the temperature drop in the gap rGo TG
can be calculated from a solution TG =
qrFo2  rGo 
ln 
2G  rFo 
=

of the conduction equation q' r 

ln  Go 
2G  rFo 

rFo=rGi
• We then assume that the thermal
conductivity λG of gas mixture is
Fuel element
constant and known
Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 27
 Fuel-Cladding Gap

z Fuel
• The temperature drop through
Gas gap
the fuel-cladding gap is then
Clad

rFo TGi(rGi)
rGo TG
 rGo 
q'
TG = ln  
2G  rFo 

Fuel element

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 28
 Fuel-Cladding Gap
• In calculations, an equivalent gap heat transfer
coefficient (called gap conductance) hG is introduced:

q' = hG 2rFoTG

• In this equation the curvature effects are neglected and

the gap conductance for open gap is approximated as:
G
hG 
G
• Here  G = rGo − rFo is the gap thickness

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 29
 Fuel-Cladding Gap
• More exact expressions for open gap conductance take
into account the wall roughness

• Reported wall roughness for both cladding and fuel vary

in a range from 10-4 to 10-2 mm

• This can be compared with the initial hot gap of about

0.1 mm

• For such conditions, the gap conductance is

hG = G ( G +  Fr +  Cr ) δFr – fuel roughness, δCr – clad roughness

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 30
 Fuel-Cladding Gap
OPEN GAP CLOSED GAP

δFr δCr
Fuel roughness Clad roughness

FUEL CLAD FUEL CLAD

Hot fuel radius

Hot clad radius
Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 31
 Fuel-Cladding Gap
• For closed gap, the heat transfer resistance is not
reduced to zero due to roughness

• The gap conductance is now a sum of two parts:

• direct contact between clad and fuel
• gas layer due to roughness
δFr – fuel roughness, δCr – clad roughness,
C – empirical constant, ks – effective
• The gap htc is now: conductivity fuel-clad, H – Mayer hardness
of the softer material, δEFFr – effective
C  k s  PFC G roughness, PFC – contact pressure
hG = +
H  EFFr  Fr +  Cr  EFFr = ( 2
Fr )
+  Cr2 2

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 32
 Cladding Thermal Analysis

z Fuel
• Assuming a constant thermal
Gas gap
conductivity of the clad material λC,
the temperature drop in cladding is Clad
found as follows
TCi(rCi)
 rCo 
q rCi
TC = ln   TC
2C  rCi  rCo
TCo(rCo)

• Thermal conductivity of actual

cladding materials is a function of
temperature, however
Fuel element

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 33
 Cladding Thermal Analysis

z Fuel
• For Zircaloy-2 and Zircaloy-4 (α-
Gas gap
phase), the thermal conductivity
can be found as Clad

C = 12.6 + 0.0118T TCi(rCi)

rCi
TC
• here: T [°C] – temperature, λC [W/mK] – rCo
thermal conductivity TCo(rCo)
• valid for 20 < T < 800 °C
• uncertainty ±1.01 W/mK

Fuel element

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 34
 Cladding Thermal Analysis

z Fuel
• The heat conduction equation in the
Gas gap
clad with variable thermal
conductivity is Clad

1 d  dTC 
 rC =0 TCi(rCi)
r dr  dr  rCi
TC
• with condition rCo
TCo(rCo)
dTC
−C 
= qCo
dr r = rCo

 is the heat flux at clad outer

• Here qCo
surface, which can be found as qCo  = q 2 rCo
Fuel element

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 35
 Cladding Thermal Analysis

z Fuel
• Integration of the conduction
Gas gap
equation gives
Clad
dTC
rC =C
dr
rCi TCi(rCi)
• Applying the boundary condition
TC
dTC q rCo
−rCo C = −C = TCo(rCo)
dr r = rCo 2

• Thus we have the following equation

dTC q
rC + =0 Fuel element
dr 2
Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 36
 Cladding Thermal Analysis

z Fuel
• We integrate the equation over clad
Gas gap
q
TCo rCo
dr Clad
T C dTC + 2 r r = 0
Ci Ci

rCi TCi(rCi)
• Assuming the thermal conductivity as
TC
rCo
C = a + bT TCo(rCo)

• We get
q rCo
a(TCo − TCi ) + TCo − TCi +
b 2
2
2
( ln
2 rCi
)
=0
Fuel element

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 37
 Cladding Thermal Analysis

z Fuel
• The clad inner temperature can be
Gas gap
now found as
Clad

1 bq rCo 
TCi =  ( a + bTCo ) + − a 
2
ln TCi(rCi)
b  rCi 
rCi
TC
rCo
TCo(rCo)

Fuel element

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 38
 Coolant to Cladding Heat Transfer

z Fuel
• The temperature drop in the
Gas gap
thermal boundary layer in
coolant can be found from the Clad
Newton equation for the
convective heat transfer:
TCo(rCo)
q r = h  (TCo − Tb ) = h  Tb rCo
Co Tb
q Tlb
since q r  2rCo  dz = q  dz  q r =
Co Co
2rCo

q
thus Tb =
2rCo h Fuel element

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 39
 Coolant to Cladding Heat Transfer
• The clad outer temperature TCo
at any axial location z is found z Fuel
as Gas gap
TCo (z ) = Tlb (z ) + Tb (z ) + Tox (z ) + Tcrud (z ) Clad
where the last term accounts
for additional heat transfer
resistance due to crud: TCo(rCo)
q  rCo + S + Scr  rCo
Tb
Tcrud = ln  
2cr  rCo + S  Tlb

S – the oxide layer thickness, Scr – crud (Chalk river

unidentified deposits) layer thickness (~2.4μm in PWR),
λcr – crud thermal conductivity (= 0.5 W/mK for BWR and
0.865 W/mK for PWR) Fuel element

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 40
 Coolant to Cladding Heat Transfer

z Fuel
• The temperature drop over the
Gas gap
oxide layer is as follows
Clad
 rCo + S 
q
Tox = ln  
2ox  rCo 
TCo(rCo)
S – the oxide layer thickness, λox – oxide rCo
Tb
thermal conductivity (=1.56 W/mK for BWR
and 2.0 W/mK for PWR) Tlb

Fuel element

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 41
 Oxide Layer

• PWR
• Oxidation kinetics correlations are used to predict the oxide layer
thickness
• After some initial transition time, the oxide layer thickness is
= c exp (− Q RT )
assumed to grow linearly with time as dS
dt
where c, Q –constants, T – temp. R – gas constant
• BWR
• Corrosion consists of athermal oxidation, which is linearly
varying with the time, and thermal oxidation, which in addition
depends on the metal/oxide surface temperature

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 42
 Crud Deposition

• PWR
• Crud sampling measurements performed in nuclear reactors
indicate no correlation between crud deposition and the
irradiation time. It can be assumed that independent of time crud
thickness is about 2.4 μm.

• BWR
• It is assumed that the crud deposition rate is constant:

= 2 10 − 4 (μm/h )
dS cr
dt

Thermal-Hydraulics in Nuclear
Energy Engineering – Lecture 03 Slide No 43