Models and validation of particulate debris coolability with the code MC3D-REPO

This paper presents MC3D-REPO which is a multidimensional code dealing with boiling – including the presence of non-condensable gases – in porous media. Use is made of the thermal equilibrium hypothesis between components, so, for reactor applications, it can only be used for the prediction of dry out. Validations against analytical solutions for simplified problems are presented, as well as comparisons with two different types of experiments. The first one deals with the cooling of a heated container located in initially saturated sand and the second one concerns the coolability of a bed of heated steel balls.