In 2005, the US passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandating the construction and operation of a high-temperature gas reactor （HTGR） by 2021. This law was passed after a multiyear study by national experts on what...In 2005, the US passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandating the construction and operation of a high-temperature gas reactor （HTGR） by 2021. This law was passed after a multiyear study by national experts on what future nuclear technologies should be developed. As a result of the Act, the US Congress chose to develop the so-called Next-Generation Nuclear Plant, which was to be an HTGR designed to produce process heat for hydrogen production. Despite high hopes and expectations, the current status is that high temperature reactors have been relegated to completing research programs on advanced fuels, graphite and materials with no plans to build a demonstration plant as required by the US Con- gress in 2005. There are many reasons behind this diminution of HTGR development, including but not limited to insufficient government funding requirements for research, unrealistically high temperature requirements for the reactor, the delay in the need for a ＂hydrogen＂ economy, competition from light water small modular light water reactors, little utility interest in new technologies, very low natural gas prices in the US, and a challenging licensing process in the US for non-water reactors.展开更多
he thermal performance test of the horizontal coaxial double tube hot gas duct (HGD) with an internal thermal insulation for the 10MW High Temperature Reactor Test Module (HTR10) was conducted on a Helium Test Loop(HE...he thermal performance test of the horizontal coaxial double tube hot gas duct (HGD) with an internal thermal insulation for the 10MW High Temperature Reactor Test Module (HTR10) was conducted on a Helium Test Loop(HETL). The present paper deals with the technical feature of the HETL, the test section and the thermal performance test of the HGD. The HGD test section with a triple tube structure includes an inner heater, a HGD model and a coldhot gas mixer. A counterflow of cold and hot helium gas under the pressure of about 3.0 MPa and the minimum temperature of 100℃ in the annular passage and the maximum of 950℃ in the central tube of the HGD model was formed. The HGD model was undergone 20 times of pressure cycle test under the pressure ranging from 0.1 to 3.4 MPa, 18 times of the temperature cycle test under the temperature ranging from 100 to 950℃ and high temperature (700 to 950℃) helium flow test for a period of more than 350 hours. The effective thermal conductivity (λeff) of the internal insulation of the HGD was investigated experimentally. The relationship of the effective thermal conductivity with the average tmperature of the internal insulation layer is λeff(W/m/℃)=0.3512+0.0003T(℃). The test results indicate that the HGD model has good abilities to resist heat flux from the central tube to the annular passage, temperature variations, and pressure variations.展开更多
Helium Turbine is used in High Temperature Reactor Helium Gas Turbine (HTR-GT) system, by which the direct helium circulation between the reactor and turbine generator system will come true. Between helium turbine and...Helium Turbine is used in High Temperature Reactor Helium Gas Turbine (HTR-GT) system, by which the direct helium circulation between the reactor and turbine generator system will come true. Between helium turbine and generator, there is gearbox device which reduces the turbine rotation speed to normal speed required by the generator. Three optional gearbox schemes are discussed. The first is single reduction cylindrical gearbox, which consists of one high speed gear and one low speed gear. Its advantage is simple structure, easy to manufacture, and high reliability, while its disadvantage is large volume and misalignment of input and output axle. The second is planetary gear mechanism with static planet carrier. The third is planetary gear mechanism with static internal gear. The latter two gearbox devices have similar structure. Their advantage is small volume and high reduction gear ratio, while disadvantage are complicated structure, many gears, low reliability and low mechanical efficiency.展开更多
A PHE (Process Heat Exchanger) is a key component in transferring high-temperature heat generated from a VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) to a chemical reaction for the massive production of hydrogen. Last year, a...A PHE (Process Heat Exchanger) is a key component in transferring high-temperature heat generated from a VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) to a chemical reaction for the massive production of hydrogen. Last year, a 10 kW class lab-scale PHE prototype made of Hastelloy-X was manufactured at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), and a performance test of the PHE prototype is currently underway in a small-scale nitrogen gas loop at KAERI. The PHE prototype is composed of two kinds of flow plates: grooves 1.0 mm in diameter machined into the flow plate for the primary coolant, and waved channels bent into the flow plate for the secondary coolant. Inside the 10 kW class lab-scale PHE prototype, twenty flow plates for the primary and secondary coolants are stacked in turn. In this study, to understand the macroscopic structural behavior of the PHE prototype under the steady-state operating condition of the gas loop, high-temperature structural analyses on the 10 kW class lab-scale PHE prototype were performed for two extreme cases: in the event of contacting the flow plates together, and when not contacting them. The analysis results for the extreme cases were also compared.展开更多
As a young engineer in the power plant department of Brown Boveri,Dr.Schulten had the idea to design nuclear power stations without major risk.The following requirements must be accomplished:A negative temperature co...As a young engineer in the power plant department of Brown Boveri,Dr.Schulten had the idea to design nuclear power stations without major risk.The following requirements must be accomplished:A negative temperature coefficient had to avoid an MCA(Maximum Credible Accident);Ceramic materials for core construction and fuel elements;A homogenous mixture of nuclear fuel and graphite had to be able to use uranium and thorium as breeding material;The produced high temperature heat shall be the basis for production of electricity,drinking water,hydrogen,etc.;A relatively simple plant,which could be operated in developing countries,to cogenerate electricity and heat;Helium used as cooling gas.展开更多
The success of high temperature gas cooled reactor depends upon the safety and quality of the coated particle fuel. The understanding and evaluation of this fuel requires the development of an integrated mechanistic f...The success of high temperature gas cooled reactor depends upon the safety and quality of the coated particle fuel. The understanding and evaluation of this fuel requires the development of an integrated mechanistic fuel performance model that fully describes the mechanical and physicochemical behavior of the fuel particle under irradiation. In this paper, a review of the analytical capability of some of the existing computer codes for coated particle fuel was performed. These existing models and codes include FZJ model, JAERI model, Stress3 model, ATLAS model, PARFUME model and TIMCOAT model. The theoretic model, methodology, calculation parameters and benchmark of these codes were classified. Based on the failure mechanism of coated particle, the advantage and limits of the models were compared and discussed. The calculated results of the coated particles for China HTR-10 by using some existing code are shown. Finally, problems and challenges in fuel performance modeling were listed.展开更多
Much more nuclear energy capacity is needed than currently installed to meet the demand of energy and the requirement on environment protection in the next decades. More stringent nuclear safety standards have to be e...Much more nuclear energy capacity is needed than currently installed to meet the demand of energy and the requirement on environment protection in the next decades. More stringent nuclear safety standards have to be established for future nuclear power plants.The philosophy of a catastrophe free nuclear technology is presented in this paper. The issue of afterheat removal of high temperature gas cooled reactors is handled.It is a striking inherent safety feature of the modular high temperature gas cooled reactor design that the afterheat removal takes place without any active core cooling systems.展开更多
Online fuel pebble burnup measurement in a future high temperature gas cooling reactor is proposed for implementation through a high purity germanimn （HPGe） gamma spectrometer. By using KORIGEN software and MCNP Mon...Online fuel pebble burnup measurement in a future high temperature gas cooling reactor is proposed for implementation through a high purity germanimn （HPGe） gamma spectrometer. By using KORIGEN software and MCNP Monte Carlo simulations, the single pebble gamma radiations to be recorded in the detector are simulated under different, irradiation histories. A specially developed algorithm is applied to analyze the generated spectra to reconstruct the gamma activity of the ~arCs monitoring nuclide. It is demonstrated that by taking into account the intense interfering peaks, the 137Cs activity in the spent pebbles can be derived with a standard deviation of 3.0% （l（r）. The results support the feasibility of utilizing the HPGe spectrometry in the online determination of the pebble burimp in future modular pebble bed reactors.展开更多
The WRNM(wide range neutron monitoring)is a newly developed neutron monitoring channel which was initially conceived as a means to meet Regulatory Guide 1.97 requirements for post-accident neutron monitoring.The scope...The WRNM(wide range neutron monitoring)is a newly developed neutron monitoring channel which was initially conceived as a means to meet Regulatory Guide 1.97 requirements for post-accident neutron monitoring.The scope was expanded to include the startup monitoring function with the aim of replacing both the source and IRMs(intermediate range monitors)in BWRs(boiling water reactors).The WRNMs,consisting of a newly designed fixed incore regenerative sensor and new electronics,which include both counting and MSV(mean square voltage)channels,have been tested in several reactors and its capabilities have been confirmed.The channel will cover the neutron flux range from 103 nv to 1.5×103 nv;it has greater than 1 decade overlap between the counting and MSV channels.Because of the regenerative fissile coating the sensor,even though fixed incore,has a life of approximately 6.0 full power years in a 51 kW/L BWR and similar situation has been proposed for newly designed small modular reactor such as BWRX-300 of General Electric Hitachi reactor.展开更多
文摘In 2005, the US passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandating the construction and operation of a high-temperature gas reactor （HTGR） by 2021. This law was passed after a multiyear study by national experts on what future nuclear technologies should be developed. As a result of the Act, the US Congress chose to develop the so-called Next-Generation Nuclear Plant, which was to be an HTGR designed to produce process heat for hydrogen production. Despite high hopes and expectations, the current status is that high temperature reactors have been relegated to completing research programs on advanced fuels, graphite and materials with no plans to build a demonstration plant as required by the US Con- gress in 2005. There are many reasons behind this diminution of HTGR development, including but not limited to insufficient government funding requirements for research, unrealistically high temperature requirements for the reactor, the delay in the need for a ＂hydrogen＂ economy, competition from light water small modular light water reactors, little utility interest in new technologies, very low natural gas prices in the US, and a challenging licensing process in the US for non-water reactors.
文摘he thermal performance test of the horizontal coaxial double tube hot gas duct (HGD) with an internal thermal insulation for the 10MW High Temperature Reactor Test Module (HTR10) was conducted on a Helium Test Loop(HETL). The present paper deals with the technical feature of the HETL, the test section and the thermal performance test of the HGD. The HGD test section with a triple tube structure includes an inner heater, a HGD model and a coldhot gas mixer. A counterflow of cold and hot helium gas under the pressure of about 3.0 MPa and the minimum temperature of 100℃ in the annular passage and the maximum of 950℃ in the central tube of the HGD model was formed. The HGD model was undergone 20 times of pressure cycle test under the pressure ranging from 0.1 to 3.4 MPa, 18 times of the temperature cycle test under the temperature ranging from 100 to 950℃ and high temperature (700 to 950℃) helium flow test for a period of more than 350 hours. The effective thermal conductivity (λeff) of the internal insulation of the HGD was investigated experimentally. The relationship of the effective thermal conductivity with the average tmperature of the internal insulation layer is λeff(W/m/℃)=0.3512+0.0003T(℃). The test results indicate that the HGD model has good abilities to resist heat flux from the central tube to the annular passage, temperature variations, and pressure variations.
文摘Helium Turbine is used in High Temperature Reactor Helium Gas Turbine (HTR-GT) system, by which the direct helium circulation between the reactor and turbine generator system will come true. Between helium turbine and generator, there is gearbox device which reduces the turbine rotation speed to normal speed required by the generator. Three optional gearbox schemes are discussed. The first is single reduction cylindrical gearbox, which consists of one high speed gear and one low speed gear. Its advantage is simple structure, easy to manufacture, and high reliability, while its disadvantage is large volume and misalignment of input and output axle. The second is planetary gear mechanism with static planet carrier. The third is planetary gear mechanism with static internal gear. The latter two gearbox devices have similar structure. Their advantage is small volume and high reduction gear ratio, while disadvantage are complicated structure, many gears, low reliability and low mechanical efficiency.
文摘A PHE (Process Heat Exchanger) is a key component in transferring high-temperature heat generated from a VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) to a chemical reaction for the massive production of hydrogen. Last year, a 10 kW class lab-scale PHE prototype made of Hastelloy-X was manufactured at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), and a performance test of the PHE prototype is currently underway in a small-scale nitrogen gas loop at KAERI. The PHE prototype is composed of two kinds of flow plates: grooves 1.0 mm in diameter machined into the flow plate for the primary coolant, and waved channels bent into the flow plate for the secondary coolant. Inside the 10 kW class lab-scale PHE prototype, twenty flow plates for the primary and secondary coolants are stacked in turn. In this study, to understand the macroscopic structural behavior of the PHE prototype under the steady-state operating condition of the gas loop, high-temperature structural analyses on the 10 kW class lab-scale PHE prototype were performed for two extreme cases: in the event of contacting the flow plates together, and when not contacting them. The analysis results for the extreme cases were also compared.
文摘As a young engineer in the power plant department of Brown Boveri,Dr.Schulten had the idea to design nuclear power stations without major risk.The following requirements must be accomplished:A negative temperature coefficient had to avoid an MCA(Maximum Credible Accident);Ceramic materials for core construction and fuel elements;A homogenous mixture of nuclear fuel and graphite had to be able to use uranium and thorium as breeding material;The produced high temperature heat shall be the basis for production of electricity,drinking water,hydrogen,etc.;A relatively simple plant,which could be operated in developing countries,to cogenerate electricity and heat;Helium used as cooling gas.
文摘The success of high temperature gas cooled reactor depends upon the safety and quality of the coated particle fuel. The understanding and evaluation of this fuel requires the development of an integrated mechanistic fuel performance model that fully describes the mechanical and physicochemical behavior of the fuel particle under irradiation. In this paper, a review of the analytical capability of some of the existing computer codes for coated particle fuel was performed. These existing models and codes include FZJ model, JAERI model, Stress3 model, ATLAS model, PARFUME model and TIMCOAT model. The theoretic model, methodology, calculation parameters and benchmark of these codes were classified. Based on the failure mechanism of coated particle, the advantage and limits of the models were compared and discussed. The calculated results of the coated particles for China HTR-10 by using some existing code are shown. Finally, problems and challenges in fuel performance modeling were listed.
文摘Much more nuclear energy capacity is needed than currently installed to meet the demand of energy and the requirement on environment protection in the next decades. More stringent nuclear safety standards have to be established for future nuclear power plants.The philosophy of a catastrophe free nuclear technology is presented in this paper. The issue of afterheat removal of high temperature gas cooled reactors is handled.It is a striking inherent safety feature of the modular high temperature gas cooled reactor design that the afterheat removal takes place without any active core cooling systems.
基金Supported by National Science and Technology Major Project(ZX06901)National Natural Science Foundation of China(10975083,11079025)Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program
文摘Online fuel pebble burnup measurement in a future high temperature gas cooling reactor is proposed for implementation through a high purity germanimn （HPGe） gamma spectrometer. By using KORIGEN software and MCNP Monte Carlo simulations, the single pebble gamma radiations to be recorded in the detector are simulated under different, irradiation histories. A specially developed algorithm is applied to analyze the generated spectra to reconstruct the gamma activity of the ~arCs monitoring nuclide. It is demonstrated that by taking into account the intense interfering peaks, the 137Cs activity in the spent pebbles can be derived with a standard deviation of 3.0% （l（r）. The results support the feasibility of utilizing the HPGe spectrometry in the online determination of the pebble burimp in future modular pebble bed reactors.
文摘The WRNM(wide range neutron monitoring)is a newly developed neutron monitoring channel which was initially conceived as a means to meet Regulatory Guide 1.97 requirements for post-accident neutron monitoring.The scope was expanded to include the startup monitoring function with the aim of replacing both the source and IRMs(intermediate range monitors)in BWRs(boiling water reactors).The WRNMs,consisting of a newly designed fixed incore regenerative sensor and new electronics,which include both counting and MSV(mean square voltage)channels,have been tested in several reactors and its capabilities have been confirmed.The channel will cover the neutron flux range from 103 nv to 1.5×103 nv;it has greater than 1 decade overlap between the counting and MSV channels.Because of the regenerative fissile coating the sensor,even though fixed incore,has a life of approximately 6.0 full power years in a 51 kW/L BWR and similar situation has been proposed for newly designed small modular reactor such as BWRX-300 of General Electric Hitachi reactor.
