Coupled neutronic/thermo-hydraulic analysis of water/Al2O3 nanofluids in a VVER-1000 reactor

•Detailed studies of using nanofluids in a PWR reactor are performed.•The Case-Bibi model is utilized to consider the gap conductance.•A considerable enhancement of heat transfer is accomplished.•The critical boric acid and relative power distribution are less impacted.

In this paper we investigate the thermal–hydraulic and neutronic attributions of using nanoparticles in the primary cooling system of a VVER-1000 reactor. The coupled analysis of the nanofluid core is performed by using DRAGON, DONJON and a thermal–hydraulic model that solves the governing momentum, energy, and mass equations. The applied approach is validated by comparing the results with the final safety analysis report (FSAR) of the plant. Finally, critical boric acid, relative power distribution, pressure drop, and temperature distributions of fuel, clad and coolant are considered for water/Al2O3 nanofluid. It is observed that low volume fraction of the nanoparticles has a minimum impact in critical boric acid up to about 3% and relative power distribution about 2% at maximum while the heat transfer is enhanced in comparison to pure water.