A solver for the two-phase two-fluid model based on high-resolution total variation diminishing scheme

•The two-fluid model and the challenges associated with its numerical modeling are investigated.•A high-order solver based on flux limiter schemes and the theta method was developed.•The solver was compared to existing thermal hydraulics codes used in nuclear industry.•The solver was shown to handle fast transients with discontinuities and phase change.

Finite volume techniques with staggered mesh are used to develop a new numerical solver for the one-dimensional two-phase two-fluid model using a high-resolution, Total Variation Diminishing (TVD) scheme. The solver is implemented to analyze numerical benchmark problems for verification and testing its abilities to handle discontinuities and fast transients with phase change. Convergence rates are investigated by comparing numerical results to analytical solutions available in literature for the case of the faucet flow problem. The solver based on a new TVD scheme is shown to exhibit higher-order of accuracy compared to other numerical schemes. Mass errors are also examined when phase change occurs for the shock tube problem, and compared to those of the 1st-order upwind scheme implemented in the nuclear thermal-hydraulics code TRACE. The solver is shown to exhibit numerical stability when applied to problems with discontinuous solutions and results of the new solver are free of spurious oscillations.