A thermohydraulic flow loop for developing novel solutions in the field of using digital twins for nuclear power facilities

Abstract

The experience is presented in building a thermohydraulic flow loop for developing technical and software solutions in using digital twins of nuclear equipment. The thermohydraulic flow loop was developed and manufactured at National Research Nuclear University MEPhI and represents a two-loop facility that allows investigating the processes of heat and mass exchange at forced and natural water circulation modes. The experimental facility allows one to obtain new data on heat transfer and hydrodynamics of two-phase flows round the fuel element bundles required for verification of computer codes. The obtained preliminary experimental results agree well with the calculations based on various codes. As part of building a digital twin for the thermohydraulic flow loop, a system is developed to diagnose, control and monitor heat-exchange transients based on physically justified real-time techniques. Neural network technologies will make it possible to predict changes in the flow loop's thermohydraulic parameters in response to external impacts. Further, a virtual prototype of the experimental facility is expected to be used in the training process and for distance learning.