On the numerical modelling of frozen walls in a molten salt fast reactor

Gregory Cartland Glover; Alex Skillen; Dzianis Litskevich; Stefano Rolfo; David R. Emerson; Bruno Merk; Charles Moulinec

doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2019.110290

On the numerical modelling of frozen walls in a molten salt fast reactor

Gregory Cartland Glover, Alex Skillen, Dzianis Litskevich, Stefano Rolfo, David R. Emerson, Bruno Merk, Charles Moulinec

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Abstract

Coupled neutronic and thermal fluid dynamic simulations of a molten salt fast reactor have been performed. The reactor is an innovative concept intended to burn spent nuclear fuel. A key issue with the development of reactor concepts is the corrosive nature of the selected molten salts based on eutectics of lithium fluoride.

This paper investigates the usage of a frozen salt film to protect the vessel wall. Six case studies examine each of the modelling techniques that are applied for the simulation of frozen salt films on the walls of a molten salt fast reactor. The preliminary findings are that a very thin layer of frozen salt can form at a wall with isothermal conditions, but it is unstable in regions where high temperatures are found. Simulations of conjugate heat transfer in two-dimensions showed that the thin frozen salt films are unable to resist the heat flux resulting from the nuclear reactions.

Original language	English
Journal	Nuclear Engineering and Design
Early online date	9 Sept 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2019.110290
Publication status	Published - 2019

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10.1016/j.nucengdes.2019.110290

NuclEngDes_CFD4NRS7SpecialAccepted author manuscript, 13.5 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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title = "On the numerical modelling of frozen walls in a molten salt fast reactor",

abstract = "Coupled neutronic and thermal fluid dynamic simulations of a molten salt fast reactor have been performed. The reactor is an innovative concept intended to burn spent nuclear fuel. A key issue with the development of reactor concepts is the corrosive nature of the selected molten salts based on eutectics of lithium fluoride.This paper investigates the usage of a frozen salt film to protect the vessel wall. Six case studies examine each of the modelling techniques that are applied for the simulation of frozen salt films on the walls of a molten salt fast reactor. The preliminary findings are that a very thin layer of frozen salt can form at a wall with isothermal conditions, but it is unstable in regions where high temperatures are found. Simulations of conjugate heat transfer in two-dimensions showed that the thin frozen salt films are unable to resist the heat flux resulting from the nuclear reactions.",

author = "Glover, {Gregory Cartland} and Alex Skillen and Dzianis Litskevich and Stefano Rolfo and Emerson, {David R.} and Bruno Merk and Charles Moulinec",

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T1 - On the numerical modelling of frozen walls in a molten salt fast reactor

AU - Glover, Gregory Cartland

AU - Skillen, Alex

AU - Litskevich, Dzianis

AU - Rolfo, Stefano

AU - Emerson, David R.

AU - Merk, Bruno

AU - Moulinec, Charles

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Coupled neutronic and thermal fluid dynamic simulations of a molten salt fast reactor have been performed. The reactor is an innovative concept intended to burn spent nuclear fuel. A key issue with the development of reactor concepts is the corrosive nature of the selected molten salts based on eutectics of lithium fluoride.This paper investigates the usage of a frozen salt film to protect the vessel wall. Six case studies examine each of the modelling techniques that are applied for the simulation of frozen salt films on the walls of a molten salt fast reactor. The preliminary findings are that a very thin layer of frozen salt can form at a wall with isothermal conditions, but it is unstable in regions where high temperatures are found. Simulations of conjugate heat transfer in two-dimensions showed that the thin frozen salt films are unable to resist the heat flux resulting from the nuclear reactions.

AB - Coupled neutronic and thermal fluid dynamic simulations of a molten salt fast reactor have been performed. The reactor is an innovative concept intended to burn spent nuclear fuel. A key issue with the development of reactor concepts is the corrosive nature of the selected molten salts based on eutectics of lithium fluoride.This paper investigates the usage of a frozen salt film to protect the vessel wall. Six case studies examine each of the modelling techniques that are applied for the simulation of frozen salt films on the walls of a molten salt fast reactor. The preliminary findings are that a very thin layer of frozen salt can form at a wall with isothermal conditions, but it is unstable in regions where high temperatures are found. Simulations of conjugate heat transfer in two-dimensions showed that the thin frozen salt films are unable to resist the heat flux resulting from the nuclear reactions.

U2 - 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2019.110290

DO - 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2019.110290

M3 - Article

SN - 0029-5493

JO - Nuclear Engineering and Design

JF - Nuclear Engineering and Design

ER -

On the numerical modelling of frozen walls in a molten salt fast reactor

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