scholarly journals PLUTONIUM FUEL PROCESSING AND FABRICATION FOR FAST CERAMIC REACTORS

1962 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.L. Zebroski ◽  
H.W. Alter ◽  
G.D. Collins

The technical and economic viability of the fast breeder reactor as an electricity generating system depends not only upon the reactor performance but also on a capability to recycle plutonium efficiently, reliably and economically through the reactor and fuel cycle facilities. Thus the fuel cycle is an integral and essential part of the system. Fuel cycle research and development has focused on demonstrating that the challenging technical requirements of processing plutonium fuel could be met and that the sometimes conflicting requirements of the fuel developer, fuel fabricator and fuel reprocessor could be reconciled. Pilot plant operation and development and design studies have established both the technical and economic feasibility of the fuel cycle but scope for further improvement exists through process intensification and flowsheet optimization. These objectives and the increasing processing demands made by the continuing improvement to fuel design and irradiation performance provide an incentive for continuing fuel cycle development work.


Author(s):  
S. Z. Baykara ◽  
E. H. Figen ◽  
A. Kale ◽  
T. N. Veziroglu

Hydrogen sulphide, an acid gas, is generally considered an environmental pollutant. As an industrial byproduct, it is produced mostly during fuel processing. Hydrogen sulphide occurs naturally in many gas wells and also in gas hydrates and gas-saturated sediments especially at the bottom of the Black Sea where 90% of the sea water is anaerobic.The anoxic conditions exist in the deepest parts of the basin since nearly 7300 years, caused by the density stratification following the significant influx of the Mediterranean water through the Bosphorous nearly 9000 years ago. Here, H2S is believed to be produced by sulphur reducing bacteria at an approximate rate of 10 000 tons per day, and it poses a serious threat since it keeps reducing the life in the Black Sea. An oxygen–hydrogen sulphide interface is established at 150–200 m below the surface after which H2S concentration starts increasing regularly until 1000 m, and finally reaches a nearly constant value of 9.5 mg/l around 1500 m depth.Hydrogen sulphide potentially has economic value if both sulphur and hydrogen can be recovered. Several methods are studied for H2S decomposition, including thermal, thermochemical, electrochemical, photochemical and plasmochemical methods.In the present work, H2S potential in the Black Sea is investigated as a source of hydrogen, an evaluation of the developing prominent techniques for hydrogen production from H2S is made, and an engineering assessment is carried out regarding hydrogen production from H2S in the Black Sea using a process design based on the catalytic solar thermolysis approach. Possibility of a modular plant is considered for production at larger scale.


2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 02017
Author(s):  
Mariagiovanna Minutillo ◽  
Alessandra Perna ◽  
Alessandro Sorce

This paper focuses on a biofuel-based Multi-Energy System generating electricity, heat and hydrogen. The proposed system, that is conceived as refit option for an existing anaerobic digester plant in which the biomass is converted to biogas, consists of: i) a fuel processing unit, ii) a power production unit based on the SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell) technology, iii) a hydrogen separation, compression and storage unit. The aim of this study is to define the operating conditions that allow optimizing the plant performances by applying the exergy analysis that is an appropriate technique to assess and rank the irreversibility sources in energy processes. Thus, the exergy analysis has been performed for both the overall plant and main plant components and the main contributors to the overall losses have been evaluated. Moreover, the first principle efficiency and the second principle efficiency have been estimated. Results have highlighted that the fuel processor (the Auto-Thermal Reforming reactor) is the main contributor to the global exergy destruction (9.74% of the input biogas exergy). In terms of overall system performance the plant has an exergetic efficiency of 53.1% (it is equal to 37.7% for the H2 production).


Author(s):  
Dae-Eun Park ◽  
Tae-Kyu Kim ◽  
Sejin Kwon ◽  
Choong-Ki Kim ◽  
Euisik Yoon

In this paper we have successfully demonstrated a new micromachined fuel processing system including vaporizer, catalytic combustor and methanol steam reformer. This fuel processing system utilizes the thermal energy generated from the catalytic hydrogen combustion to heat up the entire system. For the first time, we have used carbon nanotubes as a supporting structure of Pt catalyst for combustion. The catalytic combustor could supply the energy to heat the reformer and maintain its working temperature. We have also developed a new coating method of reforming catalyst (Cu/ZnO/Al2O3) and observed that adequate amount of hydrogen can be generated for PEMFC. We have successfully reported the feasibility of the proposed fuel processing system in each assembled component.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-12
Author(s):  
A. Lyaginskaya ◽  
N. Shandala ◽  
E. Metlyaev ◽  
V. Kuptsov ◽  
O. Parinov

Purpose: To identify the problem of assessing the health status of personnel working under the conditions of new technologies for the production of nuclear fuel. Material and method: The object of the research was the general morbidity of workers in the production of mixed nitride uranium-plutonium fuel (MNUP-fuel). The material for the study was the data presented in the «Health Passports». The paper used the method of comparative analysis of the overall morbidity of workers in the production of MNUP-fuel and workers in enterprises dealing with nuclear fuel. Results and analysis: At present, in our country, within the framework of the «Breakthrough» project, new technologies are being developed for the fabrication and refurbishment of mixed uranium-plutonium (MNUP) fuel. In the absence of radiation and hygienic standards for the content of fuel products in working rooms, in order to assess the influence of production factors, along with the radiation dose, the incidence of personnel is studied as an integral indicator of health. A study of the incidence of 50 workers in the production of MNUP fuel revealed: Relatively high incidence of general morbidity – 1122 diseases per 100 people or an average of 93.5 diseases per 100 people per year, regardless of the length of service. The leading diseases in the overall morbidity structure are diseases of the respiratory system – 26.0 % (1st place), eyes – 13.4 % (2nd place), musculoskeletal system – 11.4 % (3rd place), circulatory system – 10,9 % (4th place), injuries and poisoning – 8.4 % (5th place), digestive organs and genitourinary system – 7.7 % and 7.0 %, respectively (6th place), which make up 84.7 % of the total morbidity. Obviously, the effective dose of 4.6 mSv/year cannot be the only reason for the high morbidity in workers in complex radiochemical production, but characterizes only the influence of one of the many nonspecific factors of production. The existing system for assessing the health of personnel working in radiochemical production, in addition to analyzing the risks of deterministic and stochastic effects, should include an assessment of the overall morbidity of personnel.


Author(s):  
Saeed Kazemiabnavi ◽  
Aneet Soundararaj ◽  
Haniyeh Zamani ◽  
Bjoern Scharf ◽  
Priya Thyagarajan ◽  
...  

In recent years, there has been increased interest in fuel cells as a promising energy storage technology. The environmental impacts due to the extensive fossil fuel consumption is becoming increasingly important as greenhouse gas (GHG) levels in the atmosphere continue to rise rapidly. Furthermore, fuel cell efficiencies are not limited by the Carnot limit, a major thermodynamic limit for power plants and internal combustion engines. Therefore, hydrogen fuel cells could provide a long-term solution to the automotive industry, in its search for alternate propulsion systems. Two most important methods for hydrogen delivery to fuel cells used for vehicle propulsion were evaluated in this study, which are fuel processing and hydrogen storage. Moreover, the average fuel cost and the greenhouse gas emission for hydrogen fuel cell (H2 FCV) and gasoline fuel cell (GFCV) vehicles are compared to that of a regular gasoline vehicle based on the Argonne National Lab’s GREET model. The results show that the average fuel cost per 100 miles for a H2 FCV can be up to 57% lower than that of regular gasoline vehicles. Moreover, the obtained results confirm that the well to wheel greenhouse gas emission of both H2 FCV and GFCV is significantly less than that of regular gasoline vehicles. Furthermore, the investment return period for hydrogen storage techniques are compared to fuel processing methods. A qualitative safety and infrastructure dependency comparison of hydrogen storage and fuel processing methods is also presented.


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