AIRCRAFT NUCLEAR PROPULSION PROJECT QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT FOR PERIOD ENDING DECEMBER 10, 1955

Technical Report · Mon Mar 12 00:00:00 EST 1956

OSTI ID:4196170

Savolainen, A.W. ed.

: 9 6 9 9 7 6 7 9 8 7 9 :tion. Construction work is under way on the Aircraft Reactor Test facility. System flowsheets and instruroentation lists were prepared in an initial atiempt to define the entire ART. The fuel-to-NaK heat exchanger design was modified to overcome interfaces at the headers and to provide additional space in the region of the headers for the Be support struts. The problem of cooling the fuel filland-drain tank was studied. The basic mechanical design work on the ART lead-and-water shield and suppcrts was completed. Core flow studies were made on both the fullscale Al and plastic core models. An equipment layout was prepared for the Engineering Test Unit (ETU). Operation of the high-temperature critical experiments revealed that the ZrF/sub 4/ vapor traps were inadequate. An in-pile loop was inserted and successfully operated in the HB-3 beam hole of the MTR. Five electrically heated and three gas-heated fused-salt-Inconel forced-circulation loops were in operation. Seals of various designs are being tested for possible use in the lower position in the ART fuel pump. Full-size models of the impeller and the volute for the ART Na pump are being tested with water. Tests of an ART fuel pump are under way with high-temperature (1400 deg F) NaK as the pumped fluid. Operation of intermediate heat exchanger test A was continued, and test stand B was placed in operation. A small heat exchanger test stand is operating with a 20-tube fuel-to-NaK heat exchanger, a 500-hw NaK-totained with the intermediate and small heat exchanger test stands have been correlated. A test assembly for use in the development and testing of cold traps and plugging indicators is being fabricated. A full-scale Al model of the top portion of the ART is being fabricated. Several roomtemperature experiments on the reflector- moderatedreactor critical assembly were completed. Experiments with the reflector-moderated critical assembly operated with liquid fuel (NaF -ZrF/sub 4/- UF/sub 4/) at 1200 deg F were also completed. Materials Research. Phase equilibrium studies of various fluoride systems were continued. Work continued on determining the phase relationships in the NaF LiF -BeF/sub 2/-UF/sub 4/ system. Studies of the stability of V and Nb in NaF -LiF -KF -UF/sub 4/ at 600 and 800 deg C indicated that V was quite stable and that Nb was not. Examinations were completed of several inconel forced-circulation loops in which fluoride fuel mixtures were circulated. Several Inconel forced-circulation loops were operated in a study of the effect of the oxide content of the Na being circulated. A series of six thermal-convection loops was operated with NaF -ZrF/ sub 4/-UF/sub 4/ to which various amounts of ZrH/sub 2/ had been added to reduce the UF/sub 4/ present to UF/sub 3/. A special thermal convection loop was fabricated for testing brazed Inconel segments in the hot-leg section. Thermocouple assemblies were exposed to Na and to NaF-ZrF/sub 4/-UF/sub 4/ in seesaw apparatus so that the effect of various amounts of Chromel-Alumel in the weld nugget could be studied. Titainium carbide cermets with Co- and Ni-base alloys as binding material were exposed to NaF - ZrF/sub 4/-UF/sub 4/ for 200 hr in seesaw apparatus. Inconel valve disks and seats were flame-plated with a mixture of tungsten carbide and cobalt for testing to determine the suitability of the coating as a hard-facing material. Measurements were made of the self- decomposition of fused NaOH into water and Na/sub 2/O. A third 500-kw NaK-to-air high-conductivity-fin radiator, two 20-tube fuel-to-NaK heat exchangers, and two 100-tube bundles for intermediate heat exchangers No. 3 were fabricated. The two NaK-to-air radiators that failed in service were examined. Alloys of the Ni-Mo system are being investigated. Preliminary work on the fabrication of seadless duplex tubing was completed. Attempts are being made to produce suitable B/sub 4/ C-base tiles for the ART neutron shield and to evaluate the properties of such tiles. The problems associated with the fabrication of Inconel

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• NSA Number: NSA-14-006042
• OSTI ID: 4196170
• Report Number(s): ORNL-2012(Pts.I,II,III)(Del.)
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Decl. with deletions Oct. 22, 1959. Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-60
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

REACTOR TECHNOLOGY
AIR
AIRCRAFT
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ALUMEL
ALUMINUM
ALUMINUM ALLOYS
BERYLLIUM FLUORIDES
BORON CARBIDES
CHROMEL
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
COBALT
COBALT 60
CONVECTION
COOLING
CREEP
CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES
DECOMPOSITION
FINS
FLUID FLOW
FLUORIDES
FUELS
FUSED SALTS
GAMMA RADIATION
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HEAT TRANSFER
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HYDROFLUORIC ACID
IMPURITIES
IN PILE LOOPS
INCONEL ALLOYS
INSTRUMENTS
LEAD
LITHIUM FLUORIDES
MANGANESE ALLOYS
MATERIALS TESTING
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MOCKUP
MODERATORS
MOLYBDENUM ALLOYS
NICKEL
NICKEL ALLOYS
NIOBIUM
NIOBIUM ALLOYS
OXIDES
OXYGEN
PLANNING
PROPULSION
PUMPS