Analysis of Turbulent Kinetic Energy Budgets in Co-current Taylor Bubble Flow

Boiling in a nuclear power plant reactor vessel may occur at normal operation or only in accident scenarios, depending on the reactor type. After a planned or emergency shutdown, the removal of residual heat, initially at hundreds of megawatts, is crucial. The rate of heat removal by the primary coolant in a reactor reduces dramatically when too much steam is generated, in turn increasing fuel temperatures which can lead to irreparable damage to the reactor. This drives the need for accurate two-phase models describing the complex turbulent flow dynamics inside reactor core sub-channels, in order to determine operational safety limits.