Development and validation of ISOBURN, a new depletion code. (1st September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tavakkoli, Ehsan; Zangian, Mahdi; Minuchehr, Abdolhamid; Zolfaghari, Ahmadreza
• Is Part Of: Annals of nuclear energy. Volume 159(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-09-01
• Subjects: Depletion -- ISOBURN -- CRAM -- Flux normalization -- Self-adaptive time step -- Burnup; Nuclear energy -- Periodicals; Nuclear engineering -- Periodicals; 621.4805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anucene.2021.108319
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4549

Abstract

Highlights: A flux normalization method has been proposed to calculate the neutron flux more accurately. An iterative algorithm has been implemented by which the user-defined time steps can be adjusted self-adaptively. A consolidated solver based on TTA and CRAM has been applied to expedite calculations without losing much accuracy and stability. The nuclides composition and the spent fuel decay heat have been verified and validated through several test cases. Abstract: Recently, a new computer code, ISOBURN (ISOtopes BURNup solver), has been developed supporting both standalone and coupled-with-MCNP modes. The focus of this paper is on the features of ISOBURN in the standalone mode. At first, we propose a flux normalization method based on a semi-empirical analysis of power-generation components to find the constant flux that could deliver demanded average power. Based on this, an iterative algorithm is applied to adjust time steps self-adaptively. Also, a consolidated depletion solver is offered to reduce the size of the depletion system. The method indicates remarkable computational savings (up to 40% relative to CRAM order 16) at the expense of negligible accuracy loss. At last, ISOBURN is verified and validated with other codes and experimental values through several test cases covering nuclides composition and decay heat estimation.