Validation of CFD-BWR, a new two-phase computational fluid dynamics model for boiling water reactor analysis

To allow the detailed analysis of the two-phase coolant flow and heat transfer phenomena in a boiling water reactor fuel bundle the CFD-BWR model is being developed for use with the commercial code STAR-CD which provides general two-phase flow modeling capabilities. The paper reviews the key boiling phenomenological models, describes the overall strategy adopted for the combined CFD-BWR and STAR-CD boiling models validation and presents results of a set of experiment analyses focused on the validation of specific models implemented in the code. The location of vapor generation onset, axial temperature profile and axial and radial void distributions were calculated and compared with experimental data. Good agreement between computed and measured results was obtained for a large number of test cases.