HEAT PIPE COOLED REACTOR USING BRAYTON CYCLE
HEAT PIPE COOLED REACTOR USING BRAYTON CYCLE
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.317592504128
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Palavras-chave: Reatores refrigerados por tubos de calor, Ciclo de Brayton, limite de capilariade, limite sônico, Metais alcalinos
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Keywords: Heat pipe cooled reactor, Brayton Cycle, capillary limit, sonic limit, Alkali metals
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Abstract: Over the last seven decades, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has collaborated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on several projects related to space exploration. NASA and LANL collaborated to develop the Kilopower reactor, a compact and lightweight device with an approximate power output of 10 kW. LANL developed the MegaPower concept project, which is a heat-pipe reactor fast-spectrum design intended to produce 5 MW of thermal energy. It is designed for remote locations to operate independently of the electrical grid. The MegaPower design differs significantly from Kilopower's. In addition to its power capacity, it does not use a Stirling converter; instead, it employs a Brayton cycle for power conversion. The reactor core was a 1 m-diameter, 1.5 m-high cylinder of stainless steel 316. It also features an advanced passive cooling system comprising 1,224 potassium heat pipes that operate between 650 and 1000 °C. The efficiency of MegaPower depends on the performance of heat pipes. The efficacy of MegaPower depends on the performance constraints exhibited by heat pipes, such as their boiling point and critical temperature. The optimization of heat pipes depends on proper wick structure, vapor cavity, and geometry of the evaporator and condenser to mitigate the risks associated with transients. In heat pipes, dry-out occurs when there is insufficient fluid to maintain the continuous circulation of vapor and liquid. The power conversion system utilizes an open Brayton cycle, which offers benefits over the steam Rankine cycle.
- Daniel de Souza Gomes