Real-Time Characterization of Salt Aerosols Generated from Static and Sparged Molten Salt
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
The formation of radionuclide-bearing aerosols in the respirable size range has the potential to significantly influence offsite dose consequences and is, therefore, an important consideration in nuclear facility safety assessments. Molten salt reactor (MSR) developers will likely need to demonstrate an understanding of the conditions under which radionuclide-bearing aerosols may be generated from their reactor under normal operating and accident conditions, as well as the characteristics and transport behavior of these aerosols, to demonstrate to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that the facility can be operated safely. Recent reviews of the literature identified a lack of experimental data describing the mechanisms of formation and properties (size, concentration, and composition) of salt aerosol particles that are produced from molten salts. Experiments that identify the conditions that lead to radionuclide-bearing salt aerosol releases and quantify the characteristics of salt aerosols formed by different mechanisms are high-priority needs to support MSR licensing. This report describes tests that were conducted within the Argonne Salt Aerosol Test Stand (a sealed vessel and measurement system) to generate salt aerosols from static and sparged molten salts and measure their size and concentration in real-time. The results provide insight into salt aerosol formation by the vapor condensation and bubble bursting mechanisms and inform the potential radiological consequences of aerosol formation from molten fuel salt. Videos of the salt surface were taken during salt sparge tests to observe surface bubble behavior. The data in this report can be used to develop mechanistic source term and accident progression models for MSRs. The real-time salt aerosol characterization technique used in this study will be employed in future integral effects tests that are conducted at an engineering scale to simulate realistic MSR accidents and in future separate effects tests to address additional variables that may impact salt aerosol characteristics (e.g., presence of fission products in salt and humidity in atmosphere).
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Reactor Fleet and Advanced Reactor Development. Nuclear Reactor Technologies
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 3005916
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/CFCT--25/18; 199254
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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