Report on Thermal Neutron Diffusion Length Measurement in Reactor Grade Graphite Using MCNP and COMSOL Multiphysics

TL;DR

This paper combines experimental measurements and numerical simulations using MCNP and COMSOL to accurately determine the thermal neutron diffusion length in reactor-grade graphite, providing validated theoretical and computational approaches.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive methodology integrating MCNP, COMSOL, and analytical techniques for precise neutron diffusion length measurement in graphite.

Findings

Neutron diffusion length in graphite is approximately 50.85 cm (COMSOL) and 50.95 cm (MCNP).

Theoretical calculations of collision density and cross-section are consistent with experimental data.

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of combined simulation and experimental approaches for reactor physics analysis.

Abstract

Neutron diffusion length in reactor grade graphite is measured both experimentally and theoretically. The experimental work includes Monte Carlo (MC) coding using 'MCNP' and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) coding suing 'COMSOL Multiphysics' and Matlab. The MCNP code is adopted to simulate the thermal neutron diffusion length in a reactor moderator of 2m x 2m with slightly enriched uranium ($^{235}U$), accompanied with a model designed for thermal hydraulic analysis using point kinetic equations, based on partial and ordinary differential equation. The theoretical work includes numerical approximation methods including transcendental technique to illustrate the iteration process with the FEA method. Finally collision density of thermal neutron in graphite is measured, also specific heat relation dependability of collision density is also calculated theoretically, the thermal neutron diffusion length in graphite is evaluated at $50.85 \pm 0.3cm$ using COMSOL Multiphysics and $50.95 \pm 0.5cm$ using MCNP. Finally the total neutron cross-section is derived using FEA in an inverse iteration form.