Publications de Konstantin Mikityuk

Simulation of flow and heat transfer in a differentially heated cubical cavity using coarse Large Eddy Simulation

Two widely used sub-grid scale models namely: the standard and the dynamic Smagorinsky models were tested in a simulation of the flow in a thermally driven 3D cavity at turbulent Rayleigh number Ra = 10(9). The cubical cavity of 0.7 m side-length is set to ...

2023

Interface Tracking Investigation of the Sliding Bubbles Effects on Heat Transfer in the Laminar Regime

Konstantin Mikityuk, Lubomír Bures

Helium gases are utilized to remove fission products from the molten salt fast reactor (MSFR) core during operation. Helium gases and other volatile fission products may be introduced into the intermediate heat exchanger channels. The effect of these gases ...

2022

Optimization of multi-group energy structures for diffusion analyses of sodium-cooled fast reactors assisted by simulated annealing-Part II: Methodology application

Konstantin Mikityuk, Vincenzo Anthony Di Nora

Part I of this study introduced a novel methodology for the optimization of energy group structures to be used in diffusion calculations of Sodium cooled Fast Reactors. The goal of the optimization is to speed up calculations, particularly in transient ana ...

2021

Optimization of multi-group energy structures for diffusion analyses of sodium-cooled fast reactors assisted by simulated annealing - Part I: Methodology demonstration

Konstantin Mikityuk, Vincenzo Anthony Di Nora

This study presents an approach to the selection of optimal energy group structures for multi-group nodal diffusion analyses of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor cores. The goal is to speed up calculations, particularly in transient calculations, while maintainin ...

2021

A coarse-mesh methodology for modelling of single-phase thermal-hydraulics of ESFR innovative assembly design

Konstantin Mikityuk, Andreas Pautz, Stefan Radman, Carlo Fiorina

The GeN-Foam multi-physics code enables coupled thermal-hydraulic, neutronic, and thermal-mechanical analysis of fast reactor cores with 3-D unstructured deformable meshes. Advances within the Horizon2020 ESFR-SMART project, as well as trends towards highe ...

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA2019

Analytical solutions to a coupled fluid dynamics and neutron transport problem with application to GeN-Foam verification

Konstantin Mikityuk

Code verification is an important part of software development process that asserts code correctness. In this work, analytical solutions are used in order to develop a simple multiphysics problem involving coupled fluid dynamics and neutron transport to be ...

2018

A Simplified Numerical Benchmark For Pool-Type Sodium Fast Reactors

Konstantin Mikityuk, Andreas Pautz, Stefan Radman, Carlo Fiorina

The current work presents a simplified benchmark for a pool-type Sodium Fast Reactor based on a 2D (r-z) geometry for testing tightly-coupled spatial neutron transport, thermal-hydraulics and thermal-mechanics modeling. The new benchmark is motivated by de ...

AMER SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS2018

Creation Of An Openfoam Fuel Performance Class Based On Fred And Integration Into The Gen-Foam Multi-Physics Code

Konstantin Mikityuk, Andreas Pautz, Carlo Fiorina

The FRED code is an in-house tool developed at the Paul Scherrer Institut for the so-called 1.5-D nuclear fuel performance analysis. In order to extend its field of application, this code has been re-implemented as a class of the OpenFOAM numerical library ...

AMER SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS2018

Coupled 3-D Neutronics/Thermal-Hydraulics Optimization Study For Improving The Response Of A 3600 Mw(Thermal) Sfr Core To An Unprotected Loss-Of-Flow Accident

Rakesh Chawla, Aurélia Chenu, Kaichao Sun, Konstantin Mikityuk, Jiri Krepel

The sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), as a fast neutron spectrum system, is characterized by several performance advantages. In particular, the long-term operation of an SFR core in a closed fuel cycle will lead to an equilibrium state, where both reactivi ...

Amer Nuclear Soc2013

Analysis of selected Phenix EOL tests with the FAST code system - Part II: Unprotected phase of the Natural Convection Test

Rakesh Chawla, Aurélia Chenu, Konstantin Mikityuk

Experimental results from the unprotected phase of the Natural Convection (NC) Test performed in the Phenix reactor in the frame of end-of-life (EOL) experiments have been used to qualify the FAST code system for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) transient ...

Elsevier2012

Analysis of selected Phenix EOL tests with the FAST code system - Part I: Control-rod-shift experiments

Rakesh Chawla, Aurélia Chenu, Konstantin Mikityuk

The end-of-life (EOL) tests recently performed at the Phenix reactor present a unique opportunity to validate computational tools used for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) static and transient analysis. In the first part of the current study, PSI's FAST co ...

Elsevier2012

A standalone decay heat removal device for the Gas-cooled Fast Reactor for intermediate to atmospheric pressure conditions

Rakesh Chawla, Aaron Simon Epiney, Konstantin Mikityuk

This paper reports a design study for a Brayton cycle machine, which would constitute a dedicated, standalone decay heat removal (DHR) device for the Generation IV Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR). In comparison to the DHR reference strategy developed by the ...

Elsevier2012

Analysis of the BN-600 fast-spectrum core mock-up at BFS-2 zero-power facility using MCNPX

Gaëtan Girardin, Alessandro Marinoni, Konstantin Mikityuk

A 3D full-core heterogeneous model of the BFS-62-3A critical benchmark experiment was developed and validated using the Monte Carlo MCNPX-2.4.0 code. ...

Elsevier2012

Void reactivity decomposition for the Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor in equilibrium fuel cycle

Rakesh Chawla, Kaichao Sun, Konstantin Mikityuk, Jiri Krepel

The Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is one of the most promising Generation IV systems with many advantages, but has one dominating neutronic drawback - a positive sodium void reactivity. The aim of this study is to develop and apply a methodology, which ...

Elsevier2011

Pressure drop modeling and comparisons with experiments for single- and two-phase sodium flow

Rakesh Chawla, Aurélia Chenu, Konstantin Mikityuk

The thermal-hydraulic code TRACE is currently being extended at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) for enabling the study of sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) core behavior during transients in which boiling is anticipated. An accurate prediction of pressure ...

Elsevier2011

FAST code system: Review of recent developments and near-future plans

Rakesh Chawla, Petr Petkevich, Aurélia Chenu, Konstantin Mikityuk, Jiri Krepel

The FAST code system is currently being developed and used at the Paul Scherrer Institut for static and transient analysis of the main Generation 4 fast-spectrum reactor concepts: sodium-, helium-, and gas-cooled fast reactors. The code system includes the ...

American Society of Mechanical Engineers2010

TRACE qualification via analysis of the EIR gas-loop experiments with smooth rods

Rakesh Chawla, Aaron Simon Epiney, Konstantin Mikityuk

Several gas-loop experimental programs were carried out during the 1970-1980s at the Eidgenossisches Institut fur Reaktorforschung (EIR, now PSI), Switzerland. In the present work, a wide range of thermalhydraulics tests for smooth rods, which form part of ...

Elsevier2010

TRACE simulation of sodium boiling in pin bundle experiments under loss-of-flow conditions

Rakesh Chawla, Aurélia Chenu, Konstantin Mikityuk

In the framework of PSI's FAST code system, the thermal-hydraulic code TRACE is being extended for representation of sodium two-phase flow. As the currently available version (v.5) is limited to the simulation of only single-phase sodium flow, its applicab ...

Elsevier Science B.V.2009

Development and benchmarking of a mechanical model for GFR plate-type fuel

Rakesh Chawla, Petr Petkevich, Konstantin Mikityuk

The reference fuel design currently being considered within the Generation-IV Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR) project is a ceramic plate matrix with a honeycomb inner structure containing small fuel cylinders. The fuel is mixed plutonium-uranium carbide, whi ...

Elsevier Science Ltd.2009

Development and characterization of the control assembly system for the large 2400 MWth Generation IV gas-cooled fast reactor

Rakesh Chawla, Gaëtan Girardin, Gérald Rimpault, Konstantin Mikityuk

The present paper is related to the design and neutronic characterization of the principal control assembly system for the reference large (2400 MWth) Generation IV gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), which makes use of ceramic-ceramic (CERCER) plate-type fuel- ...

Elsevier Science Ltd.2008