Scaling of the Chinese HTR-PM Reactor Design for Licensing and Testing at the Oregon State University High Temperature Test Facility

approved: _____________________________________________________________________ Brian G. Woods The United States (US) Department of Energy (DOE) has identified the pebble-bed reactor as a high priority for US research with the end goal of licensing a pebble-bed reactor (PBR) for operation in the United States. Before this can be accomplished significant research must be done regarding the safety of the pebble-bed reactor. Of high interest is obtaining a better understanding of pebble-scale heat transfer and fluid flow within the PBR core. This thesis examines the ability of a hypothetical re-configured Oregon State University (OSU) High Temperature Test Facility (HTTF) to model the local phenomenon of the Chinese modular PBR (HTR-PM). Scaling analysis is used to quantify distortions that would occur between the HTR-PM and the scaled OSU HTTF. A one-fourth scaled test facility in height, core diameter, and pebble size is proposed. The scaling then demonstrates that this facility could model heat transfer, temperature profiles, and fluid forces found in the full scale HTR-PM with empirical correlations and non-dimensional ratios relating the HTR-PM and the scaled OSU HTTF. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are then used to produce computer simulations that show the scaling was satisfactorily performed. ©Copyright by Jordan Cox September 16, 2015 All Rights Reserved SCALING OF THE CHINESE HTR-PM REACTOR DESIGN FOR LICENSING AND TESTING AT THE OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY HIGH TEMPERATURE TEST FACILITY

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