Numerical simulation of corium flow through rod bundle and/or debris bed geometries with a model based on Lattice Boltzmann method

A new model is proposed to investigate the relocation and the distribution of hot corium flows in different configurations (rod bundle, porous debris bed) representative of a severe accident in a Light Water Reactor (LWR). Our model relies on the coupling between a modified Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), called Free-Surface LBM, that solves hydrodynamics of unsaturated corium and a Finite Volume Method (FVM) that solves heat transfers. Corium solidification and melting are addressed by implementing a correlation between the temperature and the viscosity. Several simulations on representative elementary volumes were performed, varying configurations (debris bed, rod bundle with and without grid). From the results, it is possible to capture important details of the flow at a scale lower than the pore scale and, at the same time, it is possible to take into account the average effects at the scale of several pores. Presented as a proof of concept these preliminary studies show the interest of this kind of CFD approach to identify which parameters at microstructure scale can potentially govern the corium relocation kinetics at macroscopic scale. It will provide useful information that might improve core degradation models in severe accident codes, such as ASTEC.