• Title/Summary/Keyword: lead-bismuth eutectic

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Numerical analysis of the venturi flowmeter in the liquid lead-bismuth eutectic circuit after long-term operation

  • Zhichao Zhang;Rafael Macian-Juan;Xiang Wang
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.56 no.3
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    • pp.1081-1090
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    • 2024
  • The liquid Lead-bismuth eutectic is used as the coolant for Gen-IV reactor concepts. However, due to its strong corrosive and high operating temperature, it is difficult to accurately measure the flow rate in long-term operating conditions. Venturi flowmeter is a simple structured flowmeter, which plays a very important role in the flow measurement of high-temperature liquid metals, especially since the existing flowmeters are difficult to be competent. It has the advantages of easy maintenance and stable operation. Therefore, it is necessary to study the operating conditions of the venturi flowmeter under high-temperature conditions. This work performs a series of simulations of the fluid-solid interaction between the flow liquid metal and venturi flowmeter with COMSOL software, including the dimensional sensitivity analysis of the venturi flowmeter to explore the most suitable structure and parameters for liquid heavy metal, the sensitivity analysis of the geometric parameters of the venturi tube on the varying conditions. It shows that when the contraction angle of the venturi flowmeter is 33°, the diffusion angle is 13°, the diameter of the throat is 8 mm, and the temperature of the lead-bismuth eutectic is 733.15 K, it is most suitable for the measurement in the lead-bismuth circuit.

Electrochemical method for determining the solubility of impurities in lead-bismuth eutectic using molten salt electrolytes

  • Taiqi Yin;Yongcheng Zhang;Lei Zhang;Tao Bo;Xiaoli Tan;Weiqun Shi
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.56 no.10
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    • pp.4169-4175
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    • 2024
  • Traditional physical methods for measuring solubility were often affected by viscosity, density, and surface tension. In this study, we selected appropriate electrolytes to determine the solubility of impurities in the lead-bismuth circuit at reactor operating temperatures using electrochemical methods. Taking the measurement of the solubility of impurity Ce in liquid Bi as an example, we demonstrated that electrochemical methods can accurately determine its solubility in the LiCl-KCl molten salt. Furthermore, the successful measurement of other impurities such as La, Ce, U, and Mn in lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) using the designed system has confirmed the universality of this method.

Experimental Investigation of the Thermal Hydraulics in Lead Bismuth Eutectic-Helium Experimental Loop of an Accelerator-Driven System

  • Xi, Wenxuan;Wang, Yongwei;Li, Xunfeng;Huai, Xiulan;Cai, Jun
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.48 no.5
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    • pp.1154-1161
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    • 2016
  • The heat transfer characteristics between liquid lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) and helium are of great significance for the two-loop cooling system based on an accelerator-driven system (ADS). This paper presents an experimental study on the resistance characteristics and heat transfer performance in a LBE-helium experimental loop of ADS. Pressure drops in the LBE loop, the main heat transfer, and the coupled heat transfer characteristics between LBE and helium are investigated experimentally. The temperature of LBE has a significant effect on the LBE thermo-physical properties, and is therefore considered in the prediction of pressure drops. The results show that the overall heat transfer coefficient increases with the increasing helium flow rate and the decreasing inlet temperature of helium. Increasing the LBE Reynolds number and LBE inlet temperature promotes the heat transfer performance of main heat transfer and thus the overall heat transfer coefficient. The experimental results give an insight into the flow and heat transfer properties in a LBE-helium heat exchanger and are helpful for the optimization of an ADS system design.

MODELLING THE DYNAMICS OF THE LEAD BISMUTH EUTECTIC EXPERIMENTAL ACCELERATOR DRIVEN SYSTEM BY AN INFINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE LOCALLY RECURRENT NEURAL NETWORK

  • Zio, Enrico;Pedroni, Nicola;Broggi, Matteo;Golea, Lucia Roxana
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.41 no.10
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    • pp.1293-1306
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    • 2009
  • In this paper, an infinite impulse response locally recurrent neural network (IIR-LRNN) is employed for modelling the dynamics of the Lead Bismuth Eutectic eXperimental Accelerator Driven System (LBE-XADS). The network is trained by recursive back-propagation (RBP) and its ability in estimating transients is tested under various conditions. The results demonstrate the robustness of the locally recurrent scheme in the reconstruction of complex nonlinear dynamic relationships.

Preliminary Corrosion Model in Isothermal Pb and LBE Flow Loops

  • Lee, Sung Ho;Cho, Choon Ho;Song, Tae Yung
    • Corrosion Science and Technology
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    • v.5 no.6
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    • pp.201-205
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    • 2006
  • HYPER(Hybrid Power Extraction Reactor) is the accelerator driven subcritical transmutation system developed by KAERI(Korea Atomic Research Institute). HYPER is designed to transmute long-lived transuranic actinides and fission products such as Tc-99 and I-129. Liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE). Has been a primary candidate for coolant and spallation neutron target due to its appropriate thermal-physical and chemical properties, However, it is very corrosive to the common steels used in nuclear installations at high temperature. This corrosion problem is one of the main factors considered to set the upper limits of temperature and velocity of HYPER system. In this study, a parametric study for a corrosion model was performed. And a preliminary corrosion model was also developed to predict the corrosion rate in isothermal Pb and LBE flow loops.

Research on the structure design of the LBE reactor coolant pump in the lead base heap

  • Lu, Yonggang;Zhu, Rongsheng;Fu, Qiang;Wang, Xiuli;An, Ce;Chen, Jing
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.51 no.2
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    • pp.546-555
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    • 2019
  • Since the first nuclear reactor first critical, nuclear systems has gone through four generations of history, and the fourth generation nuclear system will be truly realized in the near future. The notions of SVBR and lead-bismuth eutectic alloy coolant put forward by Russia were well received by the international nuclear science community. Lead-bismuth eutectic alloy with the ability of the better neutron economy, the low melting point, the high boiling point, the chemical inertness to water and air and other features, which was considered the most promising coolant for the 4th generation nuclear reactors. This study mainly focuses on the structural design optimization of the 4th-generation reactor coolant pump, including analysis of external characteristics, inner flow, and transient characteristic. It was found that: the reactor coolant pump with a central symmetrical dual-outlet volute structure has better radial-direction balance, the pump without guide vane has better hydraulic performance, and the pump with guide vanes has worse torsional vibration and pressure pulsation. This study serves as experience accumulation and technical support for the development of the 4th generation nuclear energy system.

Simulation of oxygen mass transfer in fuel assemblies under flowing lead-bismuth eutectic

  • Feng, Wenpei;Zhang, Xue;Chen, Hongli
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.52 no.5
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    • pp.908-917
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    • 2020
  • Corrosion of structural materials presents a critical challenge in the use of lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) as a nuclear coolant in an accelerator-driven system. By forming a protective layer on the steel surfaces, corrosion of steels in LBE cooled reactors can be mitigated. The amount of oxygen concentration required to create a continuous and stable oxide layer on steel surfaces is related to the oxidation process. So far, there is no oxidation experiment in fuel assemblies (FA), let alone specific oxidation detail information. This information can be, however, obtained by numerical simulation. In the present study, a new coupling method is developed to implement a coupling between the oxygen mass transfer model and the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS-CFX. The coupling approach is verified. Using the coupling tool, we study the oxidation process of the FA and investigate the effects of different inlet parameters, such as temperature, flow rate on the mass transfer process.