Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

The urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has spotlighted nuclear energy as a carbon-free solution. Despite its promise, nuclear safety concerns, highlighted by the 2011 Fukushima disaster, necessitate advancements in reactor technology. The United States has prioritized the development of safer, prismatic micronuclear reactors for the coming decade, focusing on the safe operation of these facilities. These reactors' design addresses potential hazards, particularly in loss of flow accident scenarios, making the understanding of natural circulation gas flow dynamics critical. Experiments on a horizontal dual-channel plenum-to-plenum facility (P2PF) were conducted to closely mimic the conditions within prismatic micronuclear reactors. This study utilized advanced measurement techniques, including thermocouples, hot wire anemometers, micro-foil sensors, and thermal gas flow sensors, to monitor temperature profiles, heat transfer coefficients, and velocities under varying natural circulation conditions. Results highlighted the dependency of gas flow stability on natural circulation intensity and revealed how the position of maximum channel surface temperature changes with gas flow direction. Local buoyancy forces were found to affect gas radial profiles, leading to asymmetrical temperature distributions. These findings provide essential benchmarking data for validating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and heat transfer calculations, underscoring the importance of further research into the thermal hydraulics of horizontally configured prismatic micronuclear reactors.

Advisor(s)

Al-Dahhan, Muthanna H.

Committee Member(s)

Smith, Joseph D.
Okoronkwo, Monday Uchenna
Usman, Shoaib
Kennedy, John
Rao, Vivek

Department(s)

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Degree Name

Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Journal article titles appearing in thesis/dissertation

This dissertation consists of the following five articles, formatted in the style used by the Missouri University of Science and Technology:

Paper I, found on pages 11–46, has been published in the Applied Thermal Engineering Journal, in January 2024.

Paper II, found on pages 47–65, is intended for submission to the Flow Measurement and Instrumentation Journal

Paper III, found on pages 66–98, is intended for submission to the Progress in Nuclear Energy Journal.

Paper IV, found on pages 99–135, is intended for submission to the Applied Thermal Engineering Journal.

Paper V, found on pages 136–176, is intended for submission to the Chemical Engineering Journal.

Pagination

xviii, 182 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes_bibliographical_references_(pages 180-181)

Rights

© 2025 Zeyad Zeitoun , All Rights Reserved

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 12502

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