SOME POSSIBILITIES FOR REDUCING ORGANIC REACTOR COOLANT COSTS
>Since cooling of nuclear reactors with organic fluids has proved technically feasible, a study of means to reduce coolant costs is justified. Reprocessing of radiolyzed polypheryl tars to make coolant feed is one approach of interest. Another is the recovery of salable materials from selected radiolyzed coolants. Cracking-hydrogenation reactions were chosen for study under the first approach. Ortho- and metaterphenyls were used as model compounds whose reactions are typical of those expected from higher polypheryls in radiolytic tars. The terphenyls were treated with hydrogen and a number of catalysts under various pressure and temperature conditions. Scission of the ring-te-ring linkages proved possible with only minor attack on the aromatic unsaturation. Thus this approach is promising for producing coolant feed material and is deserving of further work. In research on the salable preduct approach, mixtures of aromatic ethers and phenols with benzene were exposed to gamma radiation. The kind and amount of products were determined by mass spectrometric analyses. It was shown that polyphenyl ethers, possibly useful as high-temperature lubricants. hydraulic fluids, etc., can be prepared in this manner. Thus, by controlling the constituents of the coolant charge. specific useful products might be produced. The economic recovery and sale of these would offset, in part, coolant costs in a reactor plant. Additional work on this approach is desirable. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- California Research Corp., Richmond, Calif.
- NSA Number:
- NSA-15-010539
- OSTI ID:
- 4094729
- Report Number(s):
- TID-11042
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AROMATICS
BENZENE
BIPHENYL
BITUMENS
CATALYSIS
CRACKS
ECONOMICS
ETHERS
GAMMA RADIATION
HYDRAULICS
HYDROGEN
HYDROGENATION
IRRADIATION
LIQUIDS
LUBRICANTS
LUBRICATION
MASS SPECTROMETERS
ORGANIC COOLANT
PHENOLS
POLYMERS
POLYPHENYLS
PREPARATION
PRESSURE
REACTOR TECHNOLOGY
REACTORS
RECOVERY
REPROCESSING
TEMPERATURE