Michał Górkiewicz

 

 

PhD Topic: Development and validation of coupled neutronic and CFD calculations for HTR applications
Supervisor: prof. Jerzy Cetnar (AGH University of Science and Technology & NCBJ, Poland)

Many of the significant safety and reliability features of nuclear reactors arise from feedback mechanisms occurring between thermal-hydraulic and neutronic fields of phenomena. It is important to include those mechanisms during simulation of a reactor’s performance, thus coupled thermal-hydraulic and neutronic calculations should be provided. In the case of HTGR, the coupling is important due to the occurrence of thermal hot-spots and the highly negative temperature coefficient of reactivity. The aim of the project is to develop a coupled calculations scheme for prismatic HTGR core basing on existing MCB Monte Carlo code including burnup calculations and 1D thermal-hydraulic POKE code. The scheme will be upgraded applying the OpenFOAM, 3D thermal-hydraulic code so that transient states of a reactor could be simulated.

Seminars and conference talks:

• Coupling of neutronic and thermal-hydraulic calculations for nuclear reactors. 09.03.2019 Otwock,
  National Centre for Nuclear Research, Division of Nuclear Energy and Environmental Studies seminar.
• On the modelling of thermal-hydraulics and neutronics coupling for designing of a prismatic
  HTGR core with the HTTR fuel block structure. 19.05.2020 Otwock.
  National Centre for Nuclear Research, Division of Nuclear Energy and Environmental Studies seminar.

Courses:

• Nuclear reactors – Dr. O. Dorosh
• Fundamentals of reactor physics – prof. W. Gudowski
• Numerical methods in high-temperature nuclear engineering – Dr. S. Potempski
• Reactor physics of HTR-s – prof. J. Cetnar