Interaction forces model on a bubble growing for nuclear best estimate computer codes

This paper presents a mathematical model that takes into account the bubble radius variation that take place in a boiling water nuclear reactor during transients with changes in the pressure vessel, changes in the inlet core mass flow rate, density-wave phenomena or flow regime instability. The model with expansion effects was developed considering the interaction force between a dilute dispersion of gas bubbles and a continuous liquid phase. The closure relationships were formulated as an associated problem with the spatial deviation around averaging variables as a function of known variables. In order to solve the closure problem, a geometric model given by an eccentric unit cell was applied as an approach of heterogeneous structure of the two-phase flow. The closure relationship includes additional terms that represent combined effects between translation and pulsation due to displacement and size variation of the bubbles, respectively. This result can be implanted straightforward in best estimate thermo-hydraulics models. An example, the implementation of the closure relationships into TRAC best estimate computer code is presented.