What is thermal hydraulics?
Thermal hydraulics is the study of heat transfer and fluid flow within a system. It combines thermodynamics and fluid mechanics to predict how heat is distributed and how fluids move under different conditions.
This discipline is particularly crucial to nuclear engineering. Nuclear reactors generate heat that must be efficiently carried away by coolant fluids, both to enable power conversion and to prevent overheating and potential meltdown of the core.
Invaluable tool
In my current role, I lead a software engineering team developing an in-house simulation for a micro-modular reactor (MMR). I combine first principles with numerical techniques to address complex thermal hydraulic phenomena.
A key aspect of my work is balancing physical fidelity with computational efficiency. The simulation has become an invaluable asset, providing direct guidance for mechanical designs, supporting safety analyses, and serving as a digital twin for hardware integration.