Investigations of Suction Recirculation in Primary Sodium Pump of Future Indian Fast Breeder Reactors

The design of the next generation of fast breeder reactors has commenced, with the main targets being enhanced safety and improved economy. Nuclear heat generated in the fuel subassembly of fast reactors is removed by circulating sodium through the core using centrifugal pumps. The primary sodium pumps (PSPs) used are large-capacity pumps, and the design of these pumps is different from that of traditional pumps. Though many works have been reported for the performance prediction of centrifugal pumps, most of these works have been carried out in a decoupled way, and only a few works have been reported where the pump is modeled with all the associated geometric structures.

Centrifugal pumps are prone to a phenomenon called suction recirculation, which occurs when pumps are operated significantly below the best efficiency point. This suction recirculation has a strong potential to damage the impeller. Correlations given in the literature for the prediction of the onset of recirculation cannot be used for complicated inlet geometries, and three-dimensional computation fluid dynamics (CFD) investigations are most suited for such applications. Many devices have been reported in the literature to reduce the intensity of (or to suppress) suction recirculation. Webs provided in the suction plenum will modify the velocity distribution at the impeller inlet and also can influence suction recirculation.

In this work, the centrifugal pump used for primary sodium pumping for fast reactor applications is simulated using CFD techniques in an integrated way. The frozen rotor approach is used to simulate the impeller-diffuser hydraulics. The effect of flow hydraulics in the suction plenum, flow distribution in the standpipe–pump gap, and flow conditions in the pool on the performance characteristics of PSPs are simulated. The flow rate for the onset of suction recirculation is predicted and compared with correlations available in the literature. Simulations are carried out to study the effect of webs on suction recirculation. The effects of the number of webs and the web geometry are also studied.