fuel development capabilities for molten salt reactors · mark williamson, chemical& fuel cycle...
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FUEL DEVELOPMENT CAPABILITIES FOR MOLTEN SALT REACTORS
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Jim JerdenChemical and Fuel Cycle Technologies DivisionArgonne National Laboratory
Work conducted at Argonne National Laboratory is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357
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R&D activities spanning the range from fundamental property measurements to pilot-scale demonstrations– Milligram- to kilogram-scale tests with actinide halides in molten fluoride and chloride salts
CHEMICAL & FUEL CYCLE TECHNOLOGIES DIVISION
Multifaceted R&D organization with experience in
– Fuel cycle research:• Fuel development and testing• Chemical separations development and demonstration• Nuclear waste form development and testing
– Nuclear chemical engineering:• Concept development to pilot-scale demonstrations
– Pyroprocessing: • Development and demonstration of commercially viable
electrochemical processes for nuclear separations– Process simulation:
• High fidelity process modeling and equipment simulations
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LABORATORY CAPABILITIES Radiological facility housing purpose-built inert atmosphere gloveboxes used for
experiments with actinides and fission products– Glovebox furnace wells from six to thirty-six inches (~5–200L) with furnace capability to 800°C– Induction and resistance furnaces for higher temperature applications
Expertise and capabilities in areas essential to MSR development and assessment
– Thermophysical property measurements
– Materials compatibility (corrosion)
– Electrochemical monitoring of salt chemistry (materials accountability)
– Process modeling to link fuel cycle chemistry with engineering systems
THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTY MEASUREMENTS
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Capabilities currently in use with actinide bearing salts
– Differential scanning calorimeter for heat capacity measurements, melting point, and phase equilibria
– Rotating spindle viscometer– Archimedes method density measurements– Laser flash analysis system for thermal conductivity– Actinide, fission product solubility measurements– Analytical chemistry group with expertise in salt chemistry
measurements– Advanced Photon Source
Differential scanning calorimetry set up
Onset T: 994.2°C
Laser flash analysis system for actinide-bearing salts
SampleStandard
MATERIALS COMPATIBILITY CAPABILITIES
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Electrochemical corrosion in molten salts
– Voltammetry to quantify, monitor salt chemistry– Potentiodynamic and potentiostatic polarization tests– Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to monitor
evolving surface properties
Solids characterization
– SEM, XRD, focused ion beam microscope
– Unique structural probes: Advanced Photon Source• In situ (during electrolysis) High Energy X-Ray
Diffraction to determine molecular structure of molten salts as a function of temperature.
HEXRD APS data: LiCl at 650°C compared with neutron diffractionInconel 625 Post exposure:
LiCl + 1 wt% LiO2, 20 hr, 650oC
ON-LINE MONITORING OF FUEL SALT COMPOSITION
Real-time quantitative measurements in molten salts to determine:
– Fuel salt composition– Salt potential– Corrosion product species– Overall process chemistry – Composition of molten salt in secondary loop
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Salt composition versus time during 100-day test
AC voltammograms from electrochemical monitoring of salt composition
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curr
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potential vs U0/U3+
UF4-LiF-CaF2 Multifunctional voltammetry sensor
– Suitable for use in fluoride or chloride salts– Equipment and response not affected by high
radiation fields– Designed for remote operations with
automated acquisition and analysis– Time to acquire data is short– Capable of long-duration operations
(demonstrated 11+ month continuous immersions)
MOLTEN SALT PROCESS SIMULATION AND DESIGN
Argonne Model for Pyrochemical Recycling (AMPYRE) code for simulation & design of pyrochemical systems
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– Predicts time-varying salt and metal product compositions for user-defined operating conditions
– Models behavior of system during transients
Provides chemical process modeling for unit operations (operations are objects in the code)
– Provide complete mass balance model for fuel reprocessing facility
Integrates chemistry models with facility codes
– Quantify facility resource utilization
– Link model outputs to determine key process monitoring points
POINTS OF CONTACT
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Mark Williamson, Chemical & Fuel Cycle Technologies Division Director [email protected] Bill Ebert, Manager Pyroprocess and Waste Form Development group [email protected] Melisa Rose, Molten Salt Project PI [email protected] Jim Jerden, Molten Salt Project PI [email protected]
Argonne, Advanced Photon Source
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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Work conducted at Argonne National Laboratory is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.