Assessment of RELAP5-3D{copyright} using data from two-dimensional RPI flow tests

The capability of the RELAP5-3D{copyright} computer code to perform multi-dimensional thermal-hydraulic analysis was assessed using data from steady-state flow tests conducted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The RPI data were taken in a two-dimensional test section in a low-pressure air/water loop. The test section consisted of a thin vertical channel that simulated a two-dimensional slice through the core of a pressurized water reactor. Single-phase and two-phase flows were supplied to the test section in an asymmetric manner to generate a two-dimensional flow field. A traversing gamma densitometer was used to measure void fraction at many locations in the test section. High speed photographs provided information on the flow patterns and flow regimes. The RPI test section was modeled using the multi-dimensional component in RELAP5-3D Version BF06. Calculations of three RPI experiments were performed. The flow regimes predicted by the base code were in poor agreement with those observed in the tests. The two-phase regions were observed to be in the bubbly and slug flow regimes in the test. However, nearly all of the junctions in the horizontal direction were calculated to be in the stratified flow regime because of the relatively low velocities in that direction. As a result, the void fraction predictions were also in poor agreement with the measured values. Significantly improved results were obtained in sensitivity calculations with a modified version of the code that prevented the horizontal junctions from entering the stratified flow regime. These results indicate that the code`s logic in the determination of flow regimes in a multi-dimensional component must be improved. The results of the sensitivity calculations also indicate that RELAP5-3D will provide a significant multi-dimensional hydraulic analysis capability once the flow regime prediction is improved.