EBR-II Metallic Driver Fuel—A Live Option

1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 612-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. R. Seidel ◽  
L. C. Walters
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Chemical Interaction ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Metallic Fuel ◽  
Close Coupling ◽  
Temperature Capability ◽  
Test Elements ◽  
Higher Temperature ◽  
Irradiation Performance ◽  
Fuel Elements

The exceptional performance of metallic driver fuel has been demonstrated by the irradiation of a large number of Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) driver-fuel elements of uranium-5 wt percent fissium clad in austenitic stainless steel. High burnup with high reliability has been achieved by a close coupling of element design and materials selection. The irradiation performance has been improved by decreasing the fuel smear density, increasing the plenum volume, increasing the cladding thickness, and selecting a higher-strength, lower-swelling cladding alloy which exhibits less fuel-cladding chemical interaction. Quantification of reliability has allowed full utilization of the element lifetime. Lifetimes much greater than 10 at. percent could be achieved by a design change of the restrainer, which currently limits life. Use of U-Pu-Zr fuel alloy with current cladding material would provide higher-temperature capability, as demonstrated by test elements. Metallic fuel systems with their inherently superior breeding and irradiation performance are capable and attractive next-generation power systems.

scholarly journals A 4-stroke spark-ignition engine fuelled with low quality gas

2017 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-124
Author(s):  
Marek BRZEŻAŃSKI ◽  
Michał MARECZEK ◽  
Marek SUTKOWSKI ◽  
Wojciech SMUGA
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Calorific Value ◽  
Spark Ignition ◽  
Spark Ignition Engine ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Product Gas ◽  
Methane Number

Huge amount of by-products is still considered as waste and is simply disposed, for example by-product gas is usually flared. Political and social pressure to reduce air pollution and national needs for energy security make these waste fuels interesting for near-future power generation. Unfortunately most of these waste fuels, even when liquefied or gasified, have very low quality and can hardly be used in high-efficiency power systems. Among main challenges are low calorific value and composition fluctuation. Additionally very often there is a high content of sulphur, siloxanes, tars, etc., which have to be removed from the fuel. Modern 4-stroke gas engines designed for power generation applications provide very high efficiency, high reliability and availability. Unfortunately, these gas engines require high quality fuel with stable composition. Horus-Energia together with Cracow University of Technology developed a novel gas supply system HE-MUZG that can adapt to current gas quality and change engine settings accordingly.This article will present results from the HE-MUZG system tests on modern 4-stroke spark-ignition gas engine. Tests focus on low quality gas, such as gas with low calorific value, gas with very low methane number and gas with very big variations of calorific value. Test results compared with performance of that engine in the original configuration show huge improvements. Moreover the HE- MUZG system is easy to implement in commercial gensets.

Postirradiation characterization of palladium as an additive for fuel cladding chemical interaction mitigation in metallic fuel

2021 ◽  
pp. 153403
Author(s):  
Fidelma G. Di Lemma ◽  
Tammy M. Trowbridge ◽  
Luca Capriotti ◽  
Jason M. Harp ◽  
Michael T. Benson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Interaction ◽  
Fuel Cladding ◽  
Metallic Fuel

Uniqueness and Challenges of Sintered Silver as a Bonded Interface Material†

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (HITEC) ◽  
pp. 000178-000187
Author(s):  
A. A. Wereszczak ◽  
Z. Liang ◽  
M. K. Ferber ◽  
L. D. Marlino
Keyword(s):  
Solid State ◽  
Bond Strength ◽  
New Technology ◽  
State Process ◽  
Bonded Interface ◽  
Temperature Capability ◽  
Thermally Conductive ◽  
Higher Temperature ◽  
Sintered Ag ◽  
Sintered Silver

There are numerous attributes of sintered silver (Ag) as a bonded interface between die and substrate or even between substrate and heat sink in power devices. This is attested to by the relatively large number of studies devoted to it the last several years. Sintered silver potentially has a high temperature capability, high electrical and thermal conductivities, its microstructure is in equilibrium, it could predictably respond linearly elastically during thermal cycling, and the time-dependent pore coalescence and pore growth that exists with solders is apparently minimal or even nonexistent. But sintered silver bonding is a relatively new technology and solid-state sintering science and its application can be unfamiliar to solder/bonding practitioners. There are at least five different aspects of it compared to solder bonding and those are overviewed here based on the authors' experience with Ag-sintering over the last several years. For sintered-Ag interconnect bonding: it is a solid-state process (i.e., no melting); its bond strength is affected by the topography of the mating surfaces; concurrent pressure application during processing can improve bond strength; issues associated with the paste's organic binder burnout and exhaust can arise depending on the interconnect size; and porosity is indigenous to its bulk microstructure requiring its consideration and possible management. Increased understanding of these unique characteristics will help advance employment of sintered-Ag technology and the exploitation of its attributes for fabricating more reliable, higher-temperature- capable, and more thermally conductive power electronic modules.

Gas Turbine Power Systems for Military Tracked Vehicles

1983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey D. Woodhouse
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Tracked Vehicles ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Response Characteristics ◽  
Air Inlet

The gas turbine engine has been examined as a power plant for military tracked vehicles for over 30 years. Advocates have stressed the potentially high power density and high reliability as factors in favor of the turbine. Several turbine engines have been evaluated experimentally in military tracked vehicles resulting in a better understanding of such aspects as response characteristics and air inlet filtration requirements. Moreover, although the small volume and light weight of aircraft derivative gas turbines have certain virtues, it generally has been concluded that some form of waste heat recuperation is essential to achieve an acceptable level of fuel consumption, despite the increased weight and volume incurred. The selection of the AVCO Lycoming AGT1500 recuperated gas turbine as the power unit for the U.S. Army new M1 “Abrams” main battle tank was a major milestone in the evolution of gas turbine engines for tank propulsion.

Fabrication, Properties and Irradiation Performance of Molded Block Fuel Elements for HTGRs

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan F. Hrovat ◽  
Karl-H. Grosse ◽  
Richard Seemann
Keyword(s):  
Coated Particles ◽  
Cooling Channels ◽  
Block Form ◽  
Graphite Matrix ◽  
Demonstration Plant ◽  
Irradiation Performance ◽  
Fuel Elements ◽  
Monolithic Structure ◽  
Very High ◽  
Crystalline Graphite

The molded block fuel element (FE) also called monolith is a molded body, consisting of a substantially isotropic highly crystalline graphite matrix, fuel regions within the same matrix and cooling channels. The fuel regions contain the fuel in the form of coated particles which are well bonded to the remaining graphite matrix, so that both parts of the block form a monolithic structure. The monolith meets the requirements for the very high temperature reactors attaining helium outlet temperatures above 1000°C. To fabricate the molded blocks FE demonstration plant was erected and put into operation. The equipment worked without malfunction. The produced block FEs meet the specifications of GA machined block FEs. All specimens and block segments irradiated at temperature up to 1600°C and max. fast fluence E > 0, 1 MeV of 11×1021 n/cm2 show perfect behaviour without any damage.

Effects of Thickness of Zirconium Liner on Stress-Strain Characteristics of U10Mo Monolithic Plates

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hakan Ozaltun ◽  
Robert M. Allen ◽  
You Sung Han
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Barrier ◽  
Reactor Core ◽  
Stress Strain ◽  
Strain Behavior ◽  
Uranium Fuel ◽  
Plate Design ◽  
Enriched Uranium ◽  
Test Reactor ◽  
Irradiation Performance ◽  
Fuel Elements

The effects of the thickness of Zirconium liner on stress-strain behavior of monolithic fuel mini-plates during fabrication and irradiation processes were studied. Monolithic plate-type fuel elements is a new fuel form being developed for research and test reactors to achieve higher uranium densities which allows the use of low-enriched uranium fuel in reactor core. These fuel elements are comprised of a high density, low enrichment, U–Mo alloy based fuel foil encapsulated in a cladding material made of Aluminum. Early RERTR experiments indicated that the presence of an interaction layer between the fuel and cladding materials causes mechanical problems. To minimize the fuel/cladding interaction, employing a diffusion barrier between the cladding and the fuel materials was proposed. Current monolithic plate design employs a 0.025 mm thick, 99.8% pure annealed Zirconium diffusion barrier between the fuel foil (U10Mo) and the cladding materials (AL6061-O). To benchmark the irradiation performance, a number of plates were irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) with promising irradiation performance. To understand the effects of the thickness of the Zirconium diffusion barrier on the stress-strain behavior of the plates during fabrication, irradiation and shutdown stages, a representative plate from RERTR-12 experiments (Plate L1P7A0) was selected and simulated. Both fabrication and irradiation stages were considered. Simulations were repeated for various Zirconium thicknesses to understand the effects of the thickness of the diffusion barrier. Results of fabrication simulations indicated that Zirconium thickness has noticeable effects on foil’s stresses. Irradiation simulations revealed that the fabrication stresses of the foil would be relieved rapidly in the reactor. Results also showed that Zirconium thickness has little or no effects on irradiation and shutdown stresses.

scholarly journals Development of high-performance KrF and Raman laser facilities for inertial confinement fusion and other applications

1993 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. Shaw ◽  
B. Edwards ◽  
G.J. Hirst ◽  
C.J. Hooker ◽  
M.H. Key ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Short Pulse ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Laser System ◽  
Raman Laser ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Laser Amplifiers

This article describes the current status of the KrF development programme based on the Sprite laser system at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. High reliability and high shot rate have been demonstrated. Using a unique KrF-pumped Raman laser architecture, beam brightness exceeding 2×1019 Wcm-2 sterad-1 giving a focussed intensity >5 ×1017 Wcm-2 has been achieved. The development of transform-limited short-pulse oscillators is shown to be of importance in avoiding spectral broadening in air propagation of high-intensity beams. Beam smoothing of KrF beams in a multiplexed configuration has been demonstrated for the first time. The technique of echelon-free induced spatial incoherence has been shown to produce smooth intensity distributions in the far field, which remain essentially unchanged on amplification. The development of pulsed-power systems capable of exciting multikilojoule laser amplifiers for the next phase of development, the Supersprite system, is briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Accuracy Improvement for the Determination of Parameters and Voltage Drops in Busbars, Considering the Networks Power Factor

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-52
Author(s):  
Mihail Kotsur ◽  
◽  
Yulia Yarymbash ◽  
Dmitry Bezverkhnya ◽  
Igor Kotsur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
External Field ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Power Factor ◽  
Voltage Drop ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Estimation Of Parameters ◽  
Voltage Drops ◽  
Network Power

The power systems must satisfy the requirements both for high reliability and efficiency. The main component of the shop power supply systems is a busbar. There have been certain engineering techniques for the estimation of parameters, voltage and power losses, characterized by having a high error. Other methods have had a significant calculation efficiency, but without allowing the voltage drop to be determined as a function of the network power factor. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop an approach that allowed an accurate estimation of the parameters and voltage drop in trolleys, depending on the network power factor. This approach was based on the decomposition of the electromagnetic processes in a trolley busbar by connecting one phase to estimate both the resistance and reactance in the absence of the external field, and two phases to estimate the resistance and reactance in the presence of the external field. The most significant results were the determination of the resistances and reactance, depending on the frequency of the current harmonics and the distance between the phases of the busbar. The dependences were proposed to estimate the resistance and reactance for the corresponding phases and current harmonic. The analytical expression of the ratio between the voltage drop in trolleys and the power factor of the network was obtained. The testing data confirmed the high accuracy of the proposed approach. The significance of the results composed a more precise determination of the parameters and voltage drops in each phase of trolleys, irregardless of their location, number, shape, as well as the phase currents’ non-symmetry, wasting no time for the field simulation

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