Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Progress in Nuclear Energy, cilt.195, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Molten salt fast reactors (MSFRs) are a promising generation IV system, but their liquid fuel configuration means that the behaviour of the reactor core is critical for safe and reliable operation. Core flow patterns are strongly influenced by pump configuration and geometric design and govern heat removal and temperature distributions; however, detailed three-dimensional assessments remain limited. This study uses high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and parametric analysis to evaluate the impact of pump arrangements and geometric modifications on the thermal-hydraulic performance of a 50 MWth MSFR core. Six alternative MSFR designs with 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 pairs of inlet and outlet channels were analysed to evaluate how the number of loops affects the internal velocity fields, the temperature distribution, and the formation of recirculation zones. The study's first objective is to identify the pump configuration that results in the lowest maximum core temperature, thereby improving thermal safety margins. The second objective is to optimise the geometric parameters, including the arc radius and the tilt angles of the top and bottom walls, further to minimize the peak temperature within the cylindrical core. The primary objective of this study is to minimize the maximum core temperature in order to enhance thermal safety margins. This is achieved through a two-stage optimization process: first, the pump configuration is optimised; then, key geometric parameters are optimised under the selected pump arrangement. The simulation results show that the maximum core temperatures for all configurations range between 786 °C and 814 °C, exceeding the eutectic temperature of the molten salt mixture, highlighting the importance of both hydraulic design and geometric optimization in the future development of MSFRs. This research contributes to advancing small modular MSFR designs by providing insight into integrated thermal-hydraulic performance and system optimization. This work sets itself apart from existing MSFR thermal-hydraulic studies by using a structured, two-stage CFD optimization approach. This approach evaluates pump configurations and geometric parameters separately, providing quantitative guidance on how to reduce peak core temperatures in small modular MSFR designs.