Numerical study of collision behavior of melt drops during fuel-coolant interaction

The collision dynamics between two droplets plays an important role in various disciplines of nature and practical interests, such as fuel-coolant interaction (FCI), fuel combustion in engines, and various spraying process. FCI presents in nuclear reactor severe accident when the melt relocates into the coolant in the lower head with violent disturbance and vigorous heat transfer. The purpose of this study is to investigate the collision behavior of melt droplets during fuel-coolant interaction. The collision of two equal-sized droplets has been simulated in 3D by using the volume of fluid (VOF) and adaptive mesh refinement method. The numerical simulations of tetradecane droplet collision were carried out to validate the numerical methods. The results showed good agreement with the experiments. Furthermore, the simulations of uranium dioxide (UO2) droplets collision in coolant were carried out. The results showed that the contact area between droplets and coolant increased with time first and then decreased. With the increase of Weber number, the contact area of maximum in the droplet collision increased. Break happened in the later period and many child droplets formed. The number of child droplets increased with the increase of Weber number. In addition, the size distribution of little droplets was investigated.