DRACS thermal performance evaluation for FHR

Lv, Qiuping; Lin, Hai; Kim, I.H.; Sun, Xiaodong; Christensen, Richard N.; Blue, Thomas E.; Yoder, G.L.; Wilson, Daniel A.; Sabharwall, Piyush

doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2014.10.032

Cited by 15 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In Ref. [13] the bulk temperature of the salt in the NDHX was taken as a criterion for an evaluation of the susceptibility of DRACS to freezing. We consider that this criterion should be used with caution.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transient freezing of molten salts in pipe-flow systems: Application to the direct reactor auxiliary cooling system (DRACS)

2017

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The possibility of molten salt freezing in piping systems is a key concern for the solar energy industry and a safety issue in the new generation of molten-salt reactors worthy of careful consideration. This paper tackles the problem of coolant solidification in complex pipe networks by developing a transient thermohydraulic model and applying it to the 'Direct Reactor Auxiliary Cooling System' (DRACS), the passive safety system proposed for the generation-IV molten salt reactors. The results indicate that DRACS, as currently envisioned, is prone to failure due to freezing in the air/molten-salt heat exchanger. The occurrence of this scenario is related to an unstable behaviour mode of DRACS in which newly formed solid-salt deposit on the pipe walls acts to decrease the flow-rate in the secondary loop, facilitating additional solid-salt deposition. Conservative criteria are suggested to facilitate the preliminary assessments of DRACS designs. Such study is, to the knowledge of the authors, first in its type and it serves to illustrate the possible safety concerns in molten salt reactors, which are otherwise considered very safe in the literature. On a broader prospective, the analytical tools developed in this study can be used to model the freezing of molten salts in complex piping systems where standard, finite element approaches are computationally too expensive.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As an illustrative case, we base the present work on the preliminary DRACS design described in Ref. [13]. In Section 5 we report the main results of the simulations and suggest general criteria for a safe DRACS design with respect to freezing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transient freezing of molten salts in pipe-flow systems: Application to the direct reactor auxiliary cooling system (DRACS)

2017

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“…The secondary loop features a molten salt/air heat exchanger (NDHX in Fig. 1) through which the decay heat is ultimately dissipated to the environment [2]. Although very promising, DRACS can still be prone to failures and requires further study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Transient Model for Simulating the Freezing Process of Molten-salt Coolants

Brun

Markides

2016

MATEC Web Conf.

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Abstract. Even though molten salts have many useful characteristic, especially as coolants for nuclear reactors, they are prone to freezing due to their high melting point. The solidification of the salt inside the piping system could cause structural damage and stop the flow of coolant with possible serious problems. Modelling the freezing process is therefore of primary importance for nuclear safety. In this study a quasi-steady thermo-hydraulic model has been derived and implemented to describe the transient freezing of molten salts. The partial differential equations describing the solidification/melting of the salt are solved numerically using a combination of standard explicit and implicit methods. Validation of the model is presented based on previous experimental studies for two separate cases.

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A specialized code for operation transient analysis and its application in fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactors

Ruan

et al. 2017

NUCL SCI TECH

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DRACS thermal performance evaluation for FHR

Cited by 15 publications

References 15 publications

Transient freezing of molten salts in pipe-flow systems: Application to the direct reactor auxiliary cooling system (DRACS)

Transient freezing of molten salts in pipe-flow systems: Application to the direct reactor auxiliary cooling system (DRACS)

A Transient Model for Simulating the Freezing Process of Molten-salt Coolants

A specialized code for operation transient analysis and its application in fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactors

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