Pumping Options for Versatile Test Reactor Molten Lead In-Pile Test Cartridge

Mohamed S. El-Genk; Timothy M. Schriener; Ragai Altamimi; Andrew Hahn

doi:10.1080/00295639.2023.2190723

Pumping Options for Versatile Test Reactor Molten Lead In-Pile Test Cartridge

Mohamed S. El-Genk
, Timothy M. Schriener
, Ragai Altamimi
, Andrew Hahn

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Extended Length Test Article–Cartridge Lead is a test assembly for conducting in-pile research in the Versatile Test Reactor to support the advanced molten lead–cooled reactor under development at the Westinghouse Company. This work investigates four pumping options for circulating molten lead at 500°C and develops an integrated thermal-hydraulic model to estimate the demand curves. The four pumping options fit within cartridge riser tubes that are 57.0 and 68.8 mm in diameter. These options are (1) gas lift pumping, (2) the miniature submerged annular linear induction pump, (3) the miniature submerged direct-current electromagnetic pump, and (4) the miniature axial-centrifugal flow mechanical pump. Gas lift pumping is the simplest and is fully passive with no heat dissipation, but it generates the lowest pumping pressure and flow rate. The mechanical pump and direct-current electromagnetic pump generate the highest pumping pressures, flow rates, and average velocities of molten Pb in the test article of three-fuel rodlets in a triangular lattice. The mechanical pump designs provide the highest flow velocities in the test article and the slowest decrease in pumping pressure with increased flow rate at low thermal power dissipation. The optimized electromagnetic pump designs with no moving parts and elevated temperature ALNICO-5 permanent magnets meet or exceed the target flow velocities in the test article but at higher rate of heat dissipation than the mechanical pump designs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3082-3109
Number of pages	28
Journal	Nuclear Science and Engineering
Volume	197
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2190723
State	Published - 2023
Externally published	Yes

Funding

Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC award no. 145662 to the UNM and the UNM-ISNPS funded this research. We thank Dr. Kevan Weaver, former VTR technical lead at INL for his support and encouragement throughout the course of this project. We also appreciate the valuable comments and feedback by members of the VTR ELTA-CL design team led by Dr. Cetin Unal of LANL, including Keith Woloshun and Dr. Seung Jun Kim at LANL, Dr. Paolo Ferroni at Westinghouse Electric Company, and Professor Osman Anderoglu at UNM. We also wish to acknowledge the assistance, valuable suggestions, and technical support provided by Bryce D. Kelly at INL in the modeling and performance analyses of the miniature ALIP. We are grateful for the resources of the High-Performance Computing Center at INL supported by the Office of Nuclear Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nuclear Science User Facilities under contract no. DE-AC07-05ID14517, and the UNM Center for Advanced Research Computing, supported in part by the National Science Foundation, for access to the high-performance computing capabilities. We acknowledge the valuable support of the CAESES Friendship Systems, Benzstrasse 2 - 14482 Potsdam, Germany, https://www.caeses.com/ for the use of CAESES software free of charge. We thank Dr. Kevan Weaver, former VTR technical lead at INL for his support and encouragement throughout the course of this project. We also appreciate the valuable comments and feedback by members of the VTR ELTA-CL design team led by Dr. Cetin Unal of LANL, including Keith Woloshun and Dr. Seung Jun Kim at LANL, Dr. Paolo Ferroni at Westinghouse Electric Company, and Professor Osman Anderoglu at UNM. We also wish to acknowledge the assistance, valuable suggestions, and technical support provided by Bryce D. Kelly at INL in the modeling and performance analyses of the miniature ALIP. We are grateful for the resources of the High-Performance Computing Center at INL supported by the Office of Nuclear Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nuclear Science User Facilities under contract no. DE-AC07-05ID14517, and the UNM Center for Advanced Research Computing, supported in part by the National Science Foundation, for access to the high-performance computing capabilities. We acknowledge the valuable support of the CAESES Friendship Systems, Benzstrasse 2 - 14482 Potsdam, Germany, https://www.caeses.com/ for the use of CAESES software free of charge.

Keywords

Extended Length Test Article–Cartridge Lead (ELTA-CL)
Versatile Test Reactor
axial-centrifugal flow pump
electromagnetic pumps
gas lift pumping

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10.1080/00295639.2023.2190723

Cite this

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title = "Pumping Options for Versatile Test Reactor Molten Lead In-Pile Test Cartridge",

abstract = "The Extended Length Test Article–Cartridge Lead is a test assembly for conducting in-pile research in the Versatile Test Reactor to support the advanced molten lead–cooled reactor under development at the Westinghouse Company. This work investigates four pumping options for circulating molten lead at 500°C and develops an integrated thermal-hydraulic model to estimate the demand curves. The four pumping options fit within cartridge riser tubes that are 57.0 and 68.8 mm in diameter. These options are (1) gas lift pumping, (2) the miniature submerged annular linear induction pump, (3) the miniature submerged direct-current electromagnetic pump, and (4) the miniature axial-centrifugal flow mechanical pump. Gas lift pumping is the simplest and is fully passive with no heat dissipation, but it generates the lowest pumping pressure and flow rate. The mechanical pump and direct-current electromagnetic pump generate the highest pumping pressures, flow rates, and average velocities of molten Pb in the test article of three-fuel rodlets in a triangular lattice. The mechanical pump designs provide the highest flow velocities in the test article and the slowest decrease in pumping pressure with increased flow rate at low thermal power dissipation. The optimized electromagnetic pump designs with no moving parts and elevated temperature ALNICO-5 permanent magnets meet or exceed the target flow velocities in the test article but at higher rate of heat dissipation than the mechanical pump designs.",

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year = "2023",

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AU - Hahn, Andrew

PY - 2023

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N2 - The Extended Length Test Article–Cartridge Lead is a test assembly for conducting in-pile research in the Versatile Test Reactor to support the advanced molten lead–cooled reactor under development at the Westinghouse Company. This work investigates four pumping options for circulating molten lead at 500°C and develops an integrated thermal-hydraulic model to estimate the demand curves. The four pumping options fit within cartridge riser tubes that are 57.0 and 68.8 mm in diameter. These options are (1) gas lift pumping, (2) the miniature submerged annular linear induction pump, (3) the miniature submerged direct-current electromagnetic pump, and (4) the miniature axial-centrifugal flow mechanical pump. Gas lift pumping is the simplest and is fully passive with no heat dissipation, but it generates the lowest pumping pressure and flow rate. The mechanical pump and direct-current electromagnetic pump generate the highest pumping pressures, flow rates, and average velocities of molten Pb in the test article of three-fuel rodlets in a triangular lattice. The mechanical pump designs provide the highest flow velocities in the test article and the slowest decrease in pumping pressure with increased flow rate at low thermal power dissipation. The optimized electromagnetic pump designs with no moving parts and elevated temperature ALNICO-5 permanent magnets meet or exceed the target flow velocities in the test article but at higher rate of heat dissipation than the mechanical pump designs.

AB - The Extended Length Test Article–Cartridge Lead is a test assembly for conducting in-pile research in the Versatile Test Reactor to support the advanced molten lead–cooled reactor under development at the Westinghouse Company. This work investigates four pumping options for circulating molten lead at 500°C and develops an integrated thermal-hydraulic model to estimate the demand curves. The four pumping options fit within cartridge riser tubes that are 57.0 and 68.8 mm in diameter. These options are (1) gas lift pumping, (2) the miniature submerged annular linear induction pump, (3) the miniature submerged direct-current electromagnetic pump, and (4) the miniature axial-centrifugal flow mechanical pump. Gas lift pumping is the simplest and is fully passive with no heat dissipation, but it generates the lowest pumping pressure and flow rate. The mechanical pump and direct-current electromagnetic pump generate the highest pumping pressures, flow rates, and average velocities of molten Pb in the test article of three-fuel rodlets in a triangular lattice. The mechanical pump designs provide the highest flow velocities in the test article and the slowest decrease in pumping pressure with increased flow rate at low thermal power dissipation. The optimized electromagnetic pump designs with no moving parts and elevated temperature ALNICO-5 permanent magnets meet or exceed the target flow velocities in the test article but at higher rate of heat dissipation than the mechanical pump designs.

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KW - electromagnetic pumps

KW - gas lift pumping

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ER -

Pumping Options for Versatile Test Reactor Molten Lead In-Pile Test Cartridge

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