D-3He先进燃料靶惯性约束聚变的燃耗和增益

计算了球形均匀D-3He先进燃料靶惯性约束聚变(ICF)的燃耗和增益。讨论了这种堆系统的能量平 衡。设计了一种新型的由毛细管阵列组成具有抗辐射损伤、可自动更新的液态金属锂自由表面多孔湿壁,用它取 出聚变能。同时与D-T热核燃料靶系统的燃耗和增益及它们不同的堆工程特性作了比较。     

不同类型核燃料对热管冷却反应堆燃耗性能的影响

热管冷却反应堆采用固态反应堆设计理念,具有功率密度高、结构紧凑、固有安全性高等特点,在深空探索、深海勘探、偏远地区等场景中具有广阔的应用前景。核燃料作为热管冷却反应堆的重要组成部分,不同类型核燃料在堆芯燃耗分析时会呈现不同的中子学性能。基于美国爱达荷国家实验室(INL)提出的热管冷却反应堆INL Design A,利用清华大学蒙特卡罗中子输运程序RMC (Reactor Monte Carlo code)建立堆芯物理模型,选取UO₂,(U_0.9Pu_0.1)O₂,U-10Zr,U-8Pu-10Zr,UN,UC这6种核燃料开展燃耗计算,分析了不同核燃料、不同功率水平对热管冷却反应堆堆芯燃耗性能的影响。计算结果表明:在堆芯燃耗深度相同情况下(20.8 GW·d·t?1),装载U-8Pu-10Zr燃料的堆芯所需235U富集度最低(9.8%),具有较好的U-Pu增殖性能。堆芯功率处于5 MW的热管冷却反应堆,燃料中241Pu的存在不仅没起到增大堆芯燃耗深度的作用,反而导致堆芯剩余反应性和堆芯寿期末次锕系核素(MAs)的产量增大,影响反应堆的安全性与经济性。因此,对于装载含有Pu燃料的小功率长寿期热管冷却反应堆,需重点关注241Pu对堆芯燃耗性能的影响。     

Analysis of features of hydrodynamics and heat transfer in the fuel assembly of prospective sodium reactor with a high rate of reproduction in the uranium-plutonium fuel cycle

The fast sodium reactor fuel assembly (FA) with U–Pu–Zr metallic fuel is described. In comparison with a “classical” fast reactor, this FA contains thin fuel rods and a wider fuel rod grid. Studies of the fluid dynamics and the heat transfer were carried out for such a new FA design. The verification of the ANSYS CFX code was provided for determination of the velocity, pressure, and temperature fields in the different channels. The calculations in the cells and in the FA were carried out using the model of shear stress transport (SST) selected at the stage of verification. The results of the hydrodynamics and heat transfer calculations have been analyzed.     

铅冷快堆M2LFR-1000堆芯燃料管理方案设计

堆芯燃料管理是反应堆设计中极为重要而且复杂的工作,直接影响着堆芯的经济性。目前国内外对于压水堆等传统热堆已有了较为丰富和成熟的燃料管理计算方法,但对于快堆,由于其中子能谱硬,与传统热堆相比有着不同的控制方式和功率分布,快堆的堆芯燃料管理缺乏系统研究。针对中国科学技术大学自主研发的强迫循环冷却的铅基快堆M2LFR-1000,应用SRAC/COREBN软件包进行堆芯燃耗计算,根据燃耗深度提取核素核子密度,计算伪平衡循环参数进行燃料管理预估,然后进行首循环装料、过渡循环和平衡循环燃料管理方案设计。结果表明:对M2LFR-1000堆芯外区燃料换料组件Pu的富集度进行优化,可以延长换料周期到540 d,提高平均卸料燃耗深度;伪平衡循环结果与平衡循环基本一致,伪平衡循环可以用于燃料管理预估。     

Systematic impact of spent nuclear fuel on θ13 sensitivity at reactor neutrino experiment

Reactor neutrino oscillation experiments, such as Daya Bay, Double Chooz and RENO are designed to determine the neutrino mixing angle θ13 with a sensitivity of 0.01--0.03 in sin2 2θ13 at 90% confidence level, an improvement over the current limit by more than one order of magnitude. The control of systematic uncertainties is critical to achieving the sin2 2θ13 sensitivity goal of these experiments. Antineutrinos emitted from spent nuclear fuel (SNF) would distort the soft part of energy spectrum and may introduce a non-negligible systematic uncertainty. In this article, a detailed calculation of SNF neutrinos is performed taking account of the operation of a typical reactor and the event rate in the detector is obtained. A further estimation shows that the event rate contribution of SNF neutrinos is less than 0.2% relative to the reactor neutrino signals. A global χ2 analysis shows that this uncertainty will degrade the θ13 sensitivity at a negligible level.     

Numerical investigation of temperature fields in the duct of uranium-graphite reactor with fuel elements of bush type

A two-dimensional mathematical model has been developed for unsteady thermophysical processes in the industrial duct of an uranium-graphite reactor with conversion fuel elements of the bush type. The numerical algorithm and computer code have been developed on the basis of the proposed model to investigate the temperature fields in an aluminum core, fuel, shell as well as in the cooling water with regard for the design and technological assembly peculiarities. The results of some computational experiments are presented, which characterize the distribution of temperature fields in the column of fuel elements and in the cooling water.     

Hybrid fusion reactor for production of nuclear fuel with minimum radioactive contamination of the fuel cycle

The paper presents the results of the system research on the coordinated development of nuclear and fusion power engineering in the current century. Considering the increasing problems of resource procurement, including limited natural uranium resources, it seems reasonable to use fusion reactors as high-power neutron sources for production of nuclear fuel in a blanket. It is shown that the share of fusion sources in this structural configuration of the energy system can be relatively small. A fundamentally important aspect of this solution to the problem of closure of the fuel cycle is that recycling of highly active spent fuel can be abandoned. Radioactivity released during the recycling of the spent fuel from the hybrid reactor blanket is at least two orders of magnitude lower than during the production of the same number of fissile isotopes after the recycling of the spent fuel from a fast reactor.     

CMRR堆内高温高压辐照考验回路典型事故分析

基于中国绵阳研究堆(CMRR)高温高压辐照考验回路初步设计方案,就回路失水事故(LOCA)及失流事故(LOFA)两类典型事故进行分析。结果表明:回路在冷管段及热管段失水事故下包壳热点温度最高为880.6 ℃及367.6 ℃,均远低于1204 ℃;全部失流事故下最小偏离泡核沸腾比(MDNBR)大于1.5,不会发生偏离泡核沸腾;卡轴事故中包壳最高温度为734.1 ℃,低于1482 ℃。上述结果均满足验收准则,符合安全法规要求。     

Comparison of techniques for non-intrusive fuel drop size measurements in a subscale gas turbine combustor

In aviation gas turbine combustors, many factors, such as the degree and extent of fuel/air mixing, and fuel vaporization achieved prior to combustion, influence the formation of pollutants. To assist in analyzing the extent of fuel/air mixing, flow visualization techniques have been used to interrogate the fuel distributions during subcomponent tests of lean-burning fuel injectors. Combustor pressures (up to 14 bar) and air inlet temperatures (up to 680K) were typical of actual gas turbine engine operating conditions. Discrimination between liquid and vapor phases of the fuel was accomplished by comparing planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) images, elastically-scattered light images, and phase/Doppler interferometer measurements. Estimates of Sauter mean diameters are made by ratioing PLIF and Mie scattered intensities for various sprays, and factors affecting the accuracy of these estimates are discussed. Mie calculations of absorption coefficients indicate that the droplet fluorescence intensities are proportional to their surface areas, instead of their volumes, due to the high absorbance of the liquid fuel for the selected excitation wavelengths.     

Energy integration strategies for solid oxide fuel cell systems

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have operating temperatures ranging from as low as 600 °C for intermediate temperature operation to above 900 °C for higher temperature operation. These high temperatures are often viewed as a considerable disadvantage from a materials point of view because of the occurrence of unwanted interfacial reactions, stresses as a result of thermal expansivity mismatches, etc. However, higher temperatures are also an advantage of SOFC systems. Fuel pretreatment that may involve such processes as reforming is very often highly endothermic in nature. The high operating temperature of an SOFC allows for efficient system energy integration with the waste heat from the fuel cell being used to drive fuel pretreatment processes. Here, we demonstrate this propensity for energy integration by looking at the use of a novel hydrogen-carrier system working with an SOFC.     

Evolution of temperature of a droplet of liquid composite fuel interacting with heated airflow

The macroscopic patterns of a temperature change at the center of a droplet of three-component (coal, water, petroleum) composite liquid fuel (CLF) were studied using a low-inertia thermoelectric converter and system of high-speed (up to 10⁵ frames per second) video recording during the induction period at different heating intensity by the air flow with variable parameters: temperature of 670?870 K and motion velocity of 1?4 m/s. The studies were carried out for two groups of CLF compositions: fuel based on brown coal and coal cleaning rejects (filter cake). To assess the effect of liquid combustible component of CLF on characteristics of the ignition process, the corresponding composition of two-component coal-water fuel (CWF) was studied. The stages of inert heating of CLF and CWF droplets with characteristic size corresponding to radius of 0.75?1.5 mm, evaporation of moisture and liquid oil (for CLF), thermal decomposition of the organic part of coal, gas mixture ignition, and carbon burnout were identified. Regularities of changes in the temperature of CLF and CWF droplets at each of identified stages were identified for the cooccurrence of phase transitions and chemical reactions. Comparative analysis of the times of ignition delay and complete combustion of the droplets of examined fuel compositions was performed with varying droplet dimensions, temperatures, and oxidant flow velocity.     

Effects of the initial fuel temperature on burning behavior of crude oil pool fire in ice cavities

The influence of the initial fuel temperature on the burning behavior of crude oil pool fire in ice cavities was experimentally studied in this paper. The Bohai crude oil with initial fuel temperatures of 283, 293, and 303 K was burned in an initial ice cavity diameter of 6–8 cm. The mass loss rate exhibits three stages: the initial decrease stage, growth stage, and decay stage. The initial fuel temperature plays a significant role in the initial decrease stage. A heat transfer model is established to predict the mass loss rate, which agrees well with the experimental value.     

PCM软件包燃料组件弯曲模型的开发及验证北大核心CSCD

燃料组件在反应堆内受压紧力等作用会发生弯曲,该弯曲会显著改变反应堆局部位置的中子慢化。基于中广核核设计软件包PCM中的组件中子截面计算软件PINE和堆芯核设计软件COCO,开发了专门的燃料组件弯曲模型,以分析燃料组件弯曲对堆芯局部功率分布的影响,并和蒙特卡罗软件JMCT做了对比验证计算。计算结果表明,PCM软件包燃料组件弯曲模型的计算结果与JMCT吻合良好,该软件包可以用于燃料组件弯曲的分析计算。燃料组件的弯曲对于堆芯的局部功率分布有显著的影响,需要在设计中予以特别关注。     

Prediction of the thermophysical properties of molten salt fast reactor fuel from first-principles

Molten fluorides are known to show favourable thermophysical properties which make them good candidate coolants for nuclear fission reactors. Here we investigate the special case of mixtures of lithium fluoride and thorium fluoride, which act both as coolant and as fuel in the molten salt fast reactor concept. By using ab initio parameterised polarisable force fields, we show that it is possible to calculate the whole set of properties (density, thermal expansion, heat capacity, viscosity and thermal conductivity) which are necessary for assessing the heat transfer performance of the melt over the whole range of compositions and temperatures. We then deduce from our calculations several figures of merit which are important in helping the optimisation of the design of molten salt fast reactors.     

Electrochemical performance of ceria-gadolinia electrolyte based direct carbon fuel cells

A direct carbon fuel cell offers a high efficiency alternative to traditional coal fired electrical power plants. In this paper, the electrochemical performance of electrolyte supported button cells with Gd₂O₃-doped CeO₂ (CGO) electrolyte is reported over the temperature range 600 to 800 °C with solid carbon as a fuel and He/CO₂ as the purge gases in the fuel chamber. The electrochemical characterisation of the cells was carried out by the Galvanostatic Current Interruption (GCI) technique and measuring V-I and P-I curves. Power densities over 50 mWcm^-2 have been demonstrated using carbon black as the fuel. Results indicate that at low temperatures around 600 °C, the direct electrochemical oxidation of carbon takes place. However, at higher temperatures (800 °C) both direct electrochemical oxidation and the reverse Boudouard reaction take place leading to some loss in fuel cell thermodynamic efficiency and reduced fuel utilisation due to the in-situ production of CO. In order to avoid reverse Boudouard reaction whilst maximising performance, an operating temperature of around 700 °C appears optimal. Further, the electrochemical performance of fuel cells has been compared for graphite and carbon black fuels. It was found that graphitic carbon fuel is electrochemically less reactive than relatively amorphous carbon black fuel in the DCFC when tested under similar conditions.     

R & D for intermediate temperature solid state fuel cells

Although some solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are in the process of ommercialization, this technology still faces serious technical challenge due to the special high temperature (1000 °C) requirement resulting in high costs as well. It has thus been a strong tendency to develop intermediate temperature (400 to 800 °C) solid state fuel cells (ITSSFCs). ITSSFCs use either oxide ionic conductors, e.g. fluorite or perovskite oxides or proton conducting oxyacid salts and salt-oxide composites as electrolytes that have a high protonic or oxide ionic conductivity of 10⁻² to 10⁻¹ S/cm in the IT region. The ITSSFCs may provide new opportunities for SSFC (including SOFC) commercialization. This paper gives a brief overview of the current ITSSFC status and activities of research and development mainly based on our work. Paper presented at the 97th Xiangshan Science Conference on New Solid State Fuel Cells, Xiangshan, Beijing, China, June 14–17, 1998.     

An investigation of some models and approximations used in calculating fuel assemblies of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor of the GT-MHR type

The paper describes basic neutron-physics models developed in the Division of Advanced Nuclear Power Systems of the Institute of Nuclear Reactors, Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute, as design models intended for calculating the characteristics of block fuel assemblies of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor GT-MHR, namely, models for calculating burnup of fuel and isotopes of burnable neutron absorbers and calculating fuel assemblies at fixed points with respect to burnup with preparation of the neutron constants in a preassigned number of energy groups for full-scale design of a reactor. A model problem for investigation of calculated approximations is proposed. The outcome of this investigation is a developed stage-by-stage procedure of preparing group homogeneous cross sections of a fuel assembly and its parts that has been introduced into the practice of design calculations of a GT-MHR reactor.     

超临界水堆燃料组件选型论证研究

开展SCWR燃料组件性能分析及设计论证,分析研究SCWR组件设计目标,对比分析各类组件设计理念的物理热工性能与结构可实现性,论证选取综合性能优化的SCWR燃料组件方案。组件选型论证研究表明,大水棒方形组件方案采用结构设计较为简单的单水棒、组合式方形燃料组件,能够为燃料元件提供充分、均匀的慢化,而且慢化剂和冷却剂分流简单,具备良好的物理热工性能与结构可实现性,满足SCWR组件设计目标。     

Non-conventional solid state fuel cells: Materials & technology

Investigation of “Non-conventional material” for fuel cells, such as oxide-salt-ceramic composites and ceria based or perovskite oxides with different dopants, leads to a much lower fuel cell operating temperature compared to conventional high temperature, ∼1000 °C, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), which provides the new possibilities for facilitating SOFC commercialisation. This work is essentially an effort to develop new types of solid oxide ion and proton fuel cells (SOFC and SPFC) at fairly low temperatures, <800 °C, or intermediate temperature, 400 to 800 °C. The conventional high temperature SOFCs using yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) materials, and low temperature SPFCs (<200 °C) using polymer membrane electrolytes have complex material and system problems from either special high temperature requests or expensive technology and reforming systems. This research is intended to provide materials and technology along new routes for so-called non-conventional fuel cell systems, to facilitate solid state fuel cell cmmercialisation. The fuel cell research on these non-conventional systems is promising. This paper, based on recent achievements in research on materials and technology, summaries the developnt of material systems and new fuel cell devices regarding their potential marketability in the near future. Paper presented at the 3rd Euroconference on Solid State Ionics, Teulada, Sardinia, Italy, Sept. 15–22, 1996     

Multiple recycling of fuel in prototype fast breeder reactor

In a thermal neutron reactor, multiple recycle of U-Pu fuel is not possible due to degradation of fissile content of Pu in just one recycle. In the FBR closed fuel cycle, possibility of multi-recycle has been recognized. In the present study, Pu-239 equivalence approach is used to demonstrate the feasibility of achieving near constant input inventory of Pu and near stable Pu isotopic composition after a few recycles of the same fuel of the prototype fast breeder reactor under construction at Kalpakkam. After about five recycles, the cycle-to-cycle variation in the above parameters is below 1%.