An experimental test facility to support development of the fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactor

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• 作者：Graydon L. Yoder Jr. ; Adam Aaron ; Burns Cunningham ; David Fugate ; David Holcomb ; Roger Kisner ; Fred Peretz ; Kevin Robb ; John Wilgen ; Dane Wilson
• 关键词：Fluoride salt ; Molten salt ; Liquid salt ; AHTR ; FHR ; Experiment
• 刊名：Annals of Nuclear Energy
• 出版年：February, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：64
• 期：Complete
• 页码：511-517
• 全文大小：2029 K

文摘

The need for high-temperature (greater than 600 掳C) energy transport systems is significantly increasing as the world strives to improve energy efficiency and develop alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. Liquid fluoride salts are one of the few energy transport fluids that have the capability of operating at high temperatures in combination with low system pressures. The fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactor design uses fluoride salt to remove core heat and interface with a power conversion system. Although a significant amount of experimentation has been performed with these salts, specific aspects of this reactor concept will require experimental confirmation during the development process.

The experimental facility described here has been constructed to support the development of the fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactor concept. The facility is capable of operating at up to 700 掳C and incorporates a centrifugal pump to circulate FLiNaK salt through a removable test section. A unique inductive heating technique is used to apply heat to the test section, allowing heat transfer testing to be performed. An air-cooled heat exchanger removes added heat. Supporting loop infrastructure includes a pressure control system, a trace heating system, and a complement of instrumentation to measure salt flow, temperatures, and pressures around the loop.

The initial experiment is aimed at measuring fluoride-salt heat transfer inside a heated pebble bed similar to that used for the core of the pebble-bed advanced high-temperature reactor.

This paper describes the details of the loop design, auxiliary systems used to support the facility, inductive heating system, and facility capabilities.