Fast Spectrum Molten Salt Reactor Options

Gehin, Jess C; Holcomb, David Eugene; Flanagan, G.F.; Patton, Bradley D; Howard, Rob L; Harrison, T.

doi:10.2172/1018987

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In such complex and extreme environments, a thorough understanding of structural, dynamical, and thermodynamic properties of the melt is fundamentally important. Significant recent work has been done on fluoride-based molten salt mixtures, − but it is the chlorides, including those subject of this article, which are seen as particularly relevant to next-generation nuclear reactors − and concentrated solar power . If we consider the early work of Roshenhein and Zachariasen, there is almost a century of work attempting to address the structure and dynamics of networked liquids.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature Dependence of Short and Intermediate Range Order in Molten MgCl₂ and Its Mixture with KCl

Sharma

Roy

et al. 2020

J. Phys. Chem. B

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This article addresses the non-Debye−Waller temperature behavior in the intermediate range order for molten MgCl 2 and its mixtures with KCl from a theory, Molecular Dynamics, and experimental X-ray scattering perspective and puts these findings in the context of discussions and controversies extending at least four decades. We find that these liquids are defined by two structural motifs. The first motif is associated with chains of positive−negative charge alternation; the second motif, which results in a prepeak in the structure function S(q), is associated with the interaction of Mg 2+ and Cl − ions that do not belong to the same charge alternation chain or aggregate. Our complementary X-ray scattering and computational results provide a quantitative explanation for the increase in intensity of the prepeak with temperature as opposed to the behavior of other peaks following normal Debye−Waller behavior. Temperature has opposite effects on the prevalence of each of the two structural motifs, and the enhancement of one pattern appears to be at the detriment of the other. Whereas the intensity in S(q) associated with the charge alternation motif is diminished at higher temperature, the opposite is true for the prepeak associated with intermediate range order due to the second structural motif.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature Dependence of Short and Intermediate Range Order in Molten MgCl₂ and Its Mixture with KCl

Sharma

Roy

et al. 2020

J. Phys. Chem. B

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“…This is in part due to the high chance that some of the new nuclear power plants that may replace older facilities will be based on molten salt reactors (MSRs). In these, molten salts and their mixtures are used as fuel or as a coolant due to multiple advantageous properties including, but not limited to, their high heat capacity and boiling points. − Such type of reactors were demonstrated viable in the early 1950s at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). , A significant amount of work on the fluoride-based salts ,,− such as FLiBe and FLiNaK has taken place in the past few years; however, there has been an increasing degree of interest in chloride salts for MSRs. − For the chlorides, polarizable models with quantum-mechanical accuracy have been recently developed, − and it is using these that structural and transport properties ought to be better explored; yet, it is often the case that extensive sampling, particularly for transport properties, using such models is simply prohibitive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SEM-Drude Model for the Accurate and Efficient Simulation of MgCl₂–KCl Mixtures in the Condensed Phase

Sharma

Emerson

et al. 2020

J. Phys. Chem. A

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There is a long history of models that to different extents reproduce structural and dynamical properties of high-temperature molten salts. Whereas rigid ion models can work fairly well for some of the monovalent salts, polarizability is fundamentally important when small divalent or multivalent cations are combined with significantly polarizable anions such as Cl– to form networked liquids that display a first sharp diffraction peak. There are excellent polarizable ion models (PIMs) for these systems, but there has been little success with the less expensive Core–Shell type models, which are often described as unwieldy or difficult to fit. In this article, we present the Sharma–Emerson–Margulis (SEM)-Drude model for MgCl2/KCl mixtures that with the same ingredients used in the latest and most accurate PIM models overcome the aforementioned obstacles at significantly less computational cost; structural and dynamical properties are for all practical purposes very similar to what we obtain from the PIM but typical simulations can be more than 30 times faster. This has allowed us not only to expand our recent studies on the temperature and composition dependence of intermediate range order in MgCl2/KCl mixtures but also to access transport properties that were simply too costly to properly sample in our recently published studies.

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“…Various MSR classes are being pursued by vendors, including both solid- and liquid-fueled forms . The liquid-fueled designs consist of an actinide-halide fuel form dissolved in an alkali-/alkaline-earth metal halide solvent salt that can act as a fuel carrier, heat transfer fluid, or blanket. , Molten salts are also being used for thermal energy storage, such as for concentrating solar power. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 The liquid-fueled designs consist of an actinide-halide fuel form dissolved in an alkali-/alkaline-earth metal halide solvent salt that can act as a fuel carrier, heat transfer fluid, or blanket. 2,3 Molten salts are also being used for thermal energy storage, such as for concentrating solar power. 4,5 Knowledge of thermophysical properties is important in the development of molten salt-based technologies for nuclear and nonnuclear systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Density Measurements of Various Molten Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, and Uranium Chloride Salt Compositions Using Neutron Imaging

Moon

Andrews

Agca

et al. 2022

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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With an increased interest in the use of molten salts for energy generation, obtaining thermophysical properties of salt mixtures becomes critical for the understanding of salt performance and behavior. Density is one of the significant thermophysical properties of salt systems. This work presents the density measurement of molten chloride salt mixtures using neutron imaging. This work was performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory High-Flux Isotope Reactor. Resulting densities as a function of temperature for different molten chloride salts from this work were compared with calculated values using Redlich–Kister modeling. Agreement between the calculated and measured values was within 1–10%, with the exception of the ternary UCl3–NaCl–KCl salt that showed a 32% discrepancy between several literature reports; however, the results did align well with another neutron radiography article. Analysis of the radiographs suggests that microbubbles in the ternary mixture might have biased the density measurements.

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Fast Spectrum Molten Salt Reactor Options

Cited by 17 publications

References 26 publications

Temperature Dependence of Short and Intermediate Range Order in Molten MgCl₂ and Its Mixture with KCl

Temperature Dependence of Short and Intermediate Range Order in Molten MgCl₂ and Its Mixture with KCl

SEM-Drude Model for the Accurate and Efficient Simulation of MgCl₂–KCl Mixtures in the Condensed Phase

Density Measurements of Various Molten Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, and Uranium Chloride Salt Compositions Using Neutron Imaging

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Fast Spectrum Molten Salt Reactor Options

Cited by 17 publications

References 26 publications

Temperature Dependence of Short and Intermediate Range Order in Molten MgCl2 and Its Mixture with KCl

Temperature Dependence of Short and Intermediate Range Order in Molten MgCl2 and Its Mixture with KCl

SEM-Drude Model for the Accurate and Efficient Simulation of MgCl2–KCl Mixtures in the Condensed Phase

Density Measurements of Various Molten Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, and Uranium Chloride Salt Compositions Using Neutron Imaging

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Temperature Dependence of Short and Intermediate Range Order in Molten MgCl₂ and Its Mixture with KCl

Temperature Dependence of Short and Intermediate Range Order in Molten MgCl₂ and Its Mixture with KCl

SEM-Drude Model for the Accurate and Efficient Simulation of MgCl₂–KCl Mixtures in the Condensed Phase