GPU-DEM-based heat transfer model for an HTGR pebble bed

Based on the discrete element method (DEM) and GPU parallel computing, a particle heat transfer model is developed to simulate the heat transfer in a pebble bed of the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR). The model is implemented based on a previously developed GPU-DEM program by our team and uses the mesh-based neighbor searching algorithm for the heat transfer calculation. This model couples the conduction and radiative heat transfer between the pebbles and incorporates neural networks and empirical fittings to calculate the radiation view factors, which can improve computational efficiency. The effective thermal conductivity of different models and experimental data are used to verify the accuracy of the model, and the influence of different radiation heat transfer models on the results is also compared. The results show that the effective thermal conductivity derived from the current model is comparable to the classical models at different temperatures, and the numerical simulation results based on the current model are in good agreement with the corresponding experimental data. Additionally, the model achieves a single-core speedup ratio of 126–395 times with GPU acceleration, significantly enhancing computational efficiency. In conclusion, the current model has been effectively verified for accuracy and computational efficiency, and it demonstrates great potential in dealing with large-scale pebble flow and heat transfer challenges in HTGRs.