A computational fluid dynamics simulation is performed on the drain tank of the ThorCon Molten Salt Reactor design. In this analysis the OpenFOAM toolkit is used to simulate the heat transfer phenomena involved.
The aim of these simulations is to calculate the evolution of temperature levels in different areas in the domain, which are critical for stress and safety analysis of the various components of the system.
The heat transfer simulation must take into account a broad variety of phenomena:
1. Heat conduction in solids;
2. Heat conduction, convection and thermal radiation in gas regions, with the gases considered completely transparent;
3. Natural convection in the salt with power generation driving the natural circulation.
The temperature transient of drain tanks and walls are depicted in the following video.