Model of particle resuspension in turbulent flows

The graphite dust generated in an HTR/PBMR during normal reactor operation is deposited inside the primary system and becomes radioactive due to sorption of fission products. A significant amount of radioactive dust may be resuspended and released to the environment in case of LOCA. Therefore accurate particle resuspension models are required for HTR/PBMR safety analyses.Thermal–hydraulic safety analyses of HTR/PBMR type reactors are typically performed using computer codes such as FLOWNEX, MELCOR, or SPECTRA. None of these codes currently includes a well-tested mechanistic resuspension model.The resuspension model based on the Vainshtein model has been developed and implemented into the SPECTRA thermal–hydraulic system code. The resuspension model formulation has been extended in such way that other formulations, for example the Rock’n Roll model, may easily be defined and used within the general model framework.Several test calculations were performed, including comparisons of the numerical SPECTRA results with the analytical solutions obtained by means of MathCAD. Furthermore, comparisons with the experimental results of the Reeks and Hall, and STORM experiments were made. It was concluded that the model gives satisfactory results for a number of tests.