Modifications Made to the MELCOR Code for Analyzing Lithium Fires in Fusion Reactors

Technical Report · Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/911471· OSTI ID:911471

Merrill, Brad Johnson

This report documents initial modifications made to the MELCOR code that allows MELCOR to predict the consequences of lithium spill accidents for evolving fusion reactor designs. These modifications include thermodynamic and transport properties for lithium, and physical models for predicting the rate of reaction of and energy production from the lithium-air reaction. A benchmarking study was performed with this new MELCOR capability. Two lithium-air reaction tests conducted at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory (HEDL) were selected for this benchmark study. Excellent agreement was achieved between MELCOR predictions and measured data. Recommendations for modeling lithium fires with MELCOR and for future work in this area are included in this report.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC07-99ID-13727
• OSTI ID: 911471
• Report Number(s): INEEL/EXT-00-00489; TRN: US0704580
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 - PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ACCIDENTS
BENCHMARKS
HANFORD ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY
LITHIUM
MODIFICATIONS
PRODUCTION
RECOMMENDATIONS
SIMULATION
THERMODYNAMICS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TRANSPORT
fusion reactor
lithium spill accidents
lithium-air reaction
MELCOR
physical models
thermodynamics
transport properties