SYLLABUS

M2 Nuclear Energy
“Thermal-Hydraulics” (S3-D-O-R-FLUI), 33h, 4 ECTS

Summary:

Thermal-Hydraulics is essential for the design, operation and safety of Nuclear Power Plants.
This course will provide the necessary basics on Thermodynamics, fluid mechanics,
turbulence, pressure drops and heat transfers. Energy conversion cycles and reactor thermal
performances will be presented, as important design issues for all the generations of reactors.
Finally, the students will learn some basics about the thermal and mechanical aspects of fuel
design. Associated with neutronics, mechanics and material science, FLUI constitutes a field
of the reactor physics. The couplings and FLUI modelling works require deeper FLUI skills (see
the Advanced ThermoHydraulics module of the NRPE major).

Key words:

Fluid mechanics, turbulence, heat transfer, reactor and fuel design, thermodynamics.

Learning outcomes:

- Write the balance equations of fluid mechanics for one phase and two phase flows and
define/specify each terms.
- Solve them for simple laminar conditions.
- Set out and argue the basics of turbulence modelling.
- Identify and define the sources and behavior of pressure drops and heat transfer.
- Describe the main results of open systems thermodynamics an explain thermodynamics
cycles.
- Apply these results to nuclear plant design.
- Describe heat transfer in fuel, mechanics of fuel, and link it with thermalhydraulics.
Global skills:

-To assess physically the impact of thermalhydraulics on reactor physics and reactor design.

To assess Figure Of Merits for main reactor types.

Outline, contents:

Fluid mechanics

Control volumes and control masses. Balance equations: instantaneous, Integral forms, local
equations, 1D equations, lumped equations. Resolution for simple laminar conditions. Dimensional
analysis

Turbulent flows: introduction on statistical treatment, momentum and heat transfer, boundary layer.

Two-phase flows : introduction on different models and equations systems.

Pressure drops: wall friction, singular pressure drops, in one and two-phase flows.

Heat transfer: Nusselt number and heat transfer coefficient. Heat exchangers technology and
treatment.

Thermal characteristics and thermal design of nuclear reactors

Thermodynamic cycles: thermodynamic diagrams. Steam Cycles (Rankine): traditional cycles, with re-
heating. Gas Cycles (Brayton): traditional cycles, with regeneration, compression and split relaxation.
Gas turbine cycle.

Main design issues. Power heat transfer: fuel, fuel assemblies, reactor core. Thermodynamic analysis
of nuclear power plants: LWR, HTR, LMFBR. Thermalhydraulic design of PWR (normal; incidental and
accidental conditions), Core design main limitations : Critical Heat Flux (CHF) and linear heat rate.

Thermal and mechanical aspects of fuel

Heat transfer in fuel materials. Main properties of fuel materials and evolution with the irradiation.
Temperature profile in a fuel element. Thermal gap resistance between fuel pellets and cladding.
Thermal and thermo-mechanical limitations : Cladding and pellet behaviour, Pellet Cladding
Interactions and main incidental and accidental transients.

Pedagogical methods. Specific tools:

There are eleven 3-hour time slots. The teaching is delivered according to a “course-tutorial” mode
allowing a strong participation of the students and an effective interaction with the teachers.

In addition, some homeworks, associated with an assessment, constitute a part of the Modalities of
Knowledge Assessment process. A final written exam completes the assessment process.
Knowledge assessment:

Session 1: Continuous Assessment (homework) accounts for 20% + one written exam for 80%.

Session 2: Only one written exam. The CA mark of the 1st session is kept. The weight exam/CA is the
same (80/20).

Prerequisites:

Basics Math knowledge is necessary for this course: integrals and derivatives, vectors and tensors.

Bibliography:

-The teacher will provide a textbook with all the necessary information.

-N.E. Todreas, M.S. Kazimi, Nuclear systems I, Thermal Hydraulic Fundamentals, Taylor&Francis