S. Muthu Saravanan
Computaional Simulaion Section, Safety Engineering Division, Homi Bhabha National Institute, IGCAR Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu - 603102, India
P. Mangarjuna Rao
Computational Simulation Section, Safety Engineering Division Fast Reactor Technology Group Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam − 603102, India; Homi Bhabha National Institute, IGCAR, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India
S. Raghupathy
Reactor Design & Technology Group, Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India
The spreading of accidental liquid sodium spills in SFR cell floor surface is simulated using the viscous gravity current
equations of shallow layer model. The numerical model developed considers the spreading process over a horizontal surface based on the viscous-gravity forces, leak rate of sodium from the spill source and its consumption due to pool burning. The model is used to analyze the spreading behaviour of sodium pool under burning and non-burning conditions. The various parameters like time varying pool radius, pool height profile, maximum pool size, time for equilibrium pool formation, and mass inventory in burning pool are estimated for different leak scenarios, and the model predictions are validated with the benchmark results of sodium spreading phenomena available in the literature. The validated model is used for the simulation of leaked sodium spreading process in the evaluation of postulated sodium fire events pertaining to SFR safety analysis.