简介

am interested in a variety of reactor and reactor-related heat transfer and fluid flow problems. These range from resolving uncertainties associated with the basic equations and numerical techniques used to describe multiphase flow systems to the use of high fidelity systems simulations to develop advanced control methods for current and next generation reactors. I have been looking into a number of numerical stability issues associated with the models and numerics typically used to describe the thermal-hydraulic behavior of nuclear reactor systems. This research has led to the development of analytic stability bounds for the numerical solution of two-phase flow problems in situations where these bounds did not previously exist. Recent research efforts have focused on the development of methods that allow the direct control of steam generator mass inventory as opposed to current technology that relies on measurements of downcomer level. The approach is to use detailed thermal hydraulic simulations to calculate the time dependent relationship between liquid mass inventory and transient indications of indicated level, feedwater flow, steam flow and steam pressure conditions. It was shown that artificial neural networks could be developed that predict mass inventory with sufficient fidelity to allow for the development of control systems that control steam generator mass directly. This approach effectively eliminates feedwater control problems associated with shrink and swell phenomena.