Numerical Analysis of Water-Based Nanofluid Coolant for Small Modular Reactor

This paper is aimed at understanding thermohydrodynamic and neutronic characteristics of nanofluids for prospective application to water cooled small modular reactors. Numerical analysis is performed to investigate turbulent convective heat transfer and flow features of Al₂O₃ nanofluids as working fluid. The Al₂O₃-water nanofluids of 1%, 4% and 6% by volume have been employed for the numerical simulation resorting to the homogenous fluid assumptions with modified thermophysical properties. Results indicate that the heat transfer increases with nanoparticle volume concentrations by 4.2%–31% as compared against that for pure water. The maximum heat transfer increase at the center of a subchannel formed by fuel rods is 31.29% for the particle volume concentration of 6% corresponding to the Reynolds number of 65,000. It consequently appears promising enough to use nanofluids in small modular reactors. Neutronic and thermohydrodynamic investigations are further needed to streamline the nanoparticles and to optimize their concentration during the normal and abnormal operations.