Review of molten salt reactor off-gas management considerations
Abstract
Molten salt reactors offer a wide range of potential benefits but pose some unique challenges, particularly for designs that use an unclad liquid salt fuel. This type of fuel will result in the transport of fission gases into the headspace of the reactor where in some designs a cover gas can be circulated to remove certain fission products and maintain an inert atmosphere. The cover gas leaving the reactor core is expected to contain both noble and non-noble gases, aerosols, volatile species, tritium, radionuclides, and their daughters. To remove these radioactive gases, it is necessary to develop a robust off-gas system for molten salt–fueled reactors. Various treatment systems must be staged in series to remove the off-gas constituents from the stream before recirculating the gas back to the headspace of the reactor. Treatment options vary greatly depending on what they are designed to remove from the gas stream. This paper reviews the anticipated composition of a typical molten salt reactor off-gas stream and subsequently the available resources that could be employed to remove these species from the gas stream. An example off-gas system is then detailed, along with important design considerations, exemplifying the necessity for high-fidelity modeling. Lastly, the needmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[1];
[1];
[1];
[1];
[1];
[2];
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1831663
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1828223; OSTI ID: 1839945
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-161213
Journal ID: ISSN 0029-5493; TRN: US2216613
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; AC05-76RL01830; AC07-05ID14517
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nuclear Engineering and Design
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 385; Journal ID: ISSN 0029-5493
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS; Molten salt reactor; off-gas/cover gas; radionuclide capture; spectroscopic monitoring; source term reduction; online sensing
Citation Formats
Andrews, Hunter B., McFarlane, Joanna, Chapel, A. Shay, Ezell, N. Dianne Bull, Holcomb, David Eugene, de Wet, Dane, Greenwood, Michael S., Myhre, Kristian G., Bryan, Samuel A., Lines, Amanda, Riley, Brian J., Felmy, Heather M., and Humrickhouse, Paul W. Review of molten salt reactor off-gas management considerations. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111529.
Andrews, Hunter B., McFarlane, Joanna, Chapel, A. Shay, Ezell, N. Dianne Bull, Holcomb, David Eugene, de Wet, Dane, Greenwood, Michael S., Myhre, Kristian G., Bryan, Samuel A., Lines, Amanda, Riley, Brian J., Felmy, Heather M., & Humrickhouse, Paul W. Review of molten salt reactor off-gas management considerations. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111529
Andrews, Hunter B., McFarlane, Joanna, Chapel, A. Shay, Ezell, N. Dianne Bull, Holcomb, David Eugene, de Wet, Dane, Greenwood, Michael S., Myhre, Kristian G., Bryan, Samuel A., Lines, Amanda, Riley, Brian J., Felmy, Heather M., and Humrickhouse, Paul W. Fri .
"Review of molten salt reactor off-gas management considerations". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111529. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1831663.
@article{osti_1831663,
title = {Review of molten salt reactor off-gas management considerations},
author = {Andrews, Hunter B. and McFarlane, Joanna and Chapel, A. Shay and Ezell, N. Dianne Bull and Holcomb, David Eugene and de Wet, Dane and Greenwood, Michael S. and Myhre, Kristian G. and Bryan, Samuel A. and Lines, Amanda and Riley, Brian J. and Felmy, Heather M. and Humrickhouse, Paul W.},
abstractNote = {Molten salt reactors offer a wide range of potential benefits but pose some unique challenges, particularly for designs that use an unclad liquid salt fuel. This type of fuel will result in the transport of fission gases into the headspace of the reactor where in some designs a cover gas can be circulated to remove certain fission products and maintain an inert atmosphere. The cover gas leaving the reactor core is expected to contain both noble and non-noble gases, aerosols, volatile species, tritium, radionuclides, and their daughters. To remove these radioactive gases, it is necessary to develop a robust off-gas system for molten salt–fueled reactors. Various treatment systems must be staged in series to remove the off-gas constituents from the stream before recirculating the gas back to the headspace of the reactor. Treatment options vary greatly depending on what they are designed to remove from the gas stream. This paper reviews the anticipated composition of a typical molten salt reactor off-gas stream and subsequently the available resources that could be employed to remove these species from the gas stream. An example off-gas system is then detailed, along with important design considerations, exemplifying the necessity for high-fidelity modeling. Lastly, the need for further thermophysical property research and the employment of advanced sensor technology for treatment component testing are discussed.},
doi = {10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111529},
journal = {Nuclear Engineering and Design},
number = ,
volume = 385,
place = {United States},
year = {2021},
month = {10}
}
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