Dr. Marco Colombo
Senior Research Fellow
University of Leeds

Abstract

The talk discuss progresses made in the development of computational fluid dynamics multiphase models in two key areas of nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics: the prediction of boiling and of passive cooling. Computational fluid dynamics, having the capability of resolving three-dimensional complex flow conditions with physical phenomena at different length scales, is providing new computational tools to improve our understanding and predictive accuracy of complex thermal hydraulics phenomena. The talk is divided in two parts: (i) development of Eulerian-Eulerian multifluid modelling approaches, with focus on different aspects such as multiphase turbulence, polydispersity and mechanistic boiling modelling, and application to bubbly and boiling flows. (ii) Application of the model to the prediction of passive cooling in a pressurized heavy-water reactor.

Biography

Dr. Marco Colombo is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom, where he moved in 2013 after obtaining his PhD from Politecnico di Milano, in Italy. He currently holds a research Fellowship from the EPSRC entitled “Towards comprehensive multiphase flow modelling for nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics” and has been involved in multiple EPSRC funded projects on different aspects of nuclear thermal hydraulics. His main expertise is in the modelling with computational fluid dynamics of multiphase gas-liquid and boiling flows, natural circulation and passive cooling.