Algorithms of solving the burnup equation with external feed. (December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Jian; She, Ding; Shi, Lei
• Is Part Of: Annals of nuclear energy. Volume 110(2017:Dec.)
• Page Start: 412
• Page End: 417
• Publication Date: 2017-12
• Subjects: Burnup calculation -- External feed -- Nonhomogeneous term -- NUIT; Nuclear energy -- Periodicals; Nuclear engineering -- Periodicals; 621.4805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anucene.2017.07.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4549

Abstract

Highlights: Algorithms for burnup calculations with external feed are studied. Models including relative feed and absolute feed are considered, respectively. TTA and matrix exponential methods are modified to treat external feed. The proposed methods are concise and suitable for implementation. Abstract: Burnup calculation is an essential task in nuclear reactor physics. Burnup equation is generally used to describe the generation, depletion and decay process in the nuclide system. In some nuclide systems, there may exist physical or chemical exchange with the surroundings, such as the spent fuel reprocessing facilities and some advanced reactors with continuous refueling and discharging like the liquid-metal-fuel reactor. This work studies the burnup calculations with considering external feed. Two external feed models, that is the relative feed and the absolute feed, are addressed. The burnup equations with external feed are solved by utilizing the variation of transmutation trajectory analysis (TTA) method and matrix exponential methods. The proposed models and methods have been implemented in the NUIT (NUclide Inventory Tool) code. Various test cases are calculated for validation, and the numerical results are satisfactory.