• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1131-1136
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• 2020

Xenon behaves differently in molten salt reactors (MSRs) compared to solid fuel reactors. This behavior needs exploring due to the large reactivity effect of the ¹³⁵Xe isotope, given the current interest in MSR power plant development for commercial deployment. This paper focuses on select topics in xenon transport, reviews relevant past works, and proposes specific research questions to advance the state of the art in each of the focus areas. Specifically, the paper discusses the issue of xenon solubility in MSRs, the behavior of particulates circulating in MSR fuel salt and its influence on the xenon transport, the possibility of ionization of xenon atoms which changes its effective size and thus affects its mass transport, and finally the issue of circulating void fraction and how it is measured. This work presents specific recommendations for MSR designers to research the limits of Henry's law validity, circulating particulate scrubbers, validity of mass transport coefficients in high radiation fields, and the effects of pump speed on circulating void fraction.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.3-17
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• 1999

Smoldering is a non-flaming combustion mode, characterized by thermal degradation and c charring of the virgin material, evolution of smoke and emission of visible glow. A big fire may @ occur even in a confined environment having a limited amount of oxygen, due to smoldering c combustion through a porous solid material. This paper presents a theoretical analysis on the effect of smoldering combustion on fire occurrence based on a report about fire investigation of a real f fire accident. It is assumed that the propagation of the smolder wave is one-dimensional, d downward, opposing an upward forced flow and steady in a frame of reference moving with the s smolder wave. Smoldering combustion is modeled by a one-step reaction mechanism, without c considering pyrolysis. It is found that dominant parameters controlling smoldering combustion i include mass flux of oxidizer entering the reaction zone and void fraction of solid fuel. It is also found that the mechanism of transition to flaming is critically influenced by these two parameters.