Liquid metal coolants

Janne Wallenius Reactor Physics, KTH

Outline

Why liquid metals? Which liquid metal? Calculation of clad temperatures

Why liquid metals?

In order to achieve a fast spectrum in a power reactor, a coolant with high heat capacity and low moderation power is required Liquid water or organic coolants are excluded Liquid metals or gases possible options Gases need to operate under high pressure Loss of pressure accident difcult to survive in a fast neutron reactor with passive safety systems only (Generation IV-objective!)

Which liquid metal?

Liquid metal or metal alloy properties

Coolant Hg Na Pb NaK PbBi Tmelt [K] 234 371 601 260 399 Tboil [K] 630 1156 2016 1058 1943
kg [ 3 ] m
J C p[ ] kg K W k[ ] mK

c [mb]
107 1.3 4.4 5.9 3.6

13600 850 10500 780 10200

140 1277 147 1200 144

12 68 17 22 14

Mercury

+ +

Liquid at room temperature Experience from operation of Clementine & BR-2 Very low boiling temperature high vapour pressure High cross section for capture

Sodium

+ + + + +

High heat capacity High thermal conductivity Low density (low pumping power) Low neutron capture cross section Large body of operational experience Solid at room temperature Low boiling temperature risk for boiling High chemical reactivity with water

NaK

+ +

Liquid at room temperature Experience from operation of EBR-I & DFR Chemically reactive with water Higher vapour pressure than sodium Lower boiling temperature than sodium Lower thermal conductivity than sodium

DFR
Dounreay, UK

Lead coolant

+ + +

Lead has a boiling temperature above the clad melting temperature. Coolant boiling no longer an issue. Large density change with temperature permits decay heat removal by natural circulation. Lead is inert with respect to water High freezing temperature No operational experience Lead is highly corrosive above T = 720 K. Optimised steel composition, oxygen control and/or surface treatment is required. Coolant ow rate is limited to <2 m/s by erosion concerns.

Lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE)

+ +

Lower melting temperature than lead 80 years of operational experience from Soviet submarines Activation of 210Po due to neutron capture in 209Bi Resources limited (~ 100 reactors)

K745
Soviet Union

Choice of liquid metal

Sodium: Proven to work under semi-industrial conditions (Phnix, BN-600) Lead: May permit reduction of costs for operation & maintenance. Lifetime limits due to corrosion & erosion have to be addressed.

Thermal hydraulics of liquid metals

Lead and sodium have different heat removal performance Lead velocity limited by erosion Coolant volume fraction must be larger for same power density Safety coefcients depend on coolant cross sections and leakage factors. Calculation of clad temperatures relatively straight forward for liquid metals

Fast neutron reactor geometry

Diameter

Hexagonal geometry (triangular unit cell) standard choice for fast neutron reactors Close packing, minimises leakage In hexagonal geometry, one coolant channel transports heat from half a pin. Lead cooling suggests larger coolant volume fraction. Square lattice may be applied (BREST, ELSY)

Pitch Area

Methodology

Calculate mass ow corresponding to the desired temperature increase in the coolant. Applying maximum permitted coolant velocity, nd minimum P/D satisfying temperature limits for the cladding: Calculate axial temperature prole in bulk coolant Calculate axial dependence of temperature drop in lm between clad and bulk coolant

Axial power prole

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Linear power [kW/m]

Axial power distribution in fast reactors well described by cosine function (far away from control rods). Extrapolation length in sodium: 135% of fuel column height. Axial peaking factor: ~1.26
z [m]
-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6

Extrapolation length in lead: 150% of fuel column height Axial peaking factor: ~1.20

Coolant temperature (hexagonal geometry)

Coolant temperature K

Half the linear power is removed by one coolant channel:

1 (z) T (z) = Tin + 2C dz m L /2 p

z

800

Mass ow is a constant, determined e.g. by density and velocity at the inlet of the coolant channel. To perform analytical integration, we may approximate Cp with its value at the inlet z sin ave L0 1+ T (z) = Tin + L 4 inVin A C p sin 2L0

750

700

650

0.4

0.2

z m

0.0

0.2

0.4

Physical properties

The density of liquid lead is one order of magnitude higher than the density of liquid sodium. The opposite holds for the respective heat capacities The product of density and heat capacity is ~ 40% higher for lead.
12 000 10 000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 600

Density [kg/m3]
1400

Heat capacity [J/(kg K)]

Lead

1200 1000 800 600 400

Sodium

Sodium
700 800 900 1000 1100

200 0 600

Lead

700

800

900

1000

1100

Temperature [K]

Temperature [K]

Density

Sodium density as function of temperature:

Na (T ) = 1012 0.2205T 1.923 105 T 2 + 5.637 109 T 3

Lead density as function of temperature:

Pb (T ) = 11367 1.1944T
Relative expansion of sodium larger than for lead (2.2% for T = 100 K) Absolute expansion of lead larger than for sodium (120 kg/m3 for T = 100 K)

Velocity limitation

Upper limit for sodium velocity: 79 m/s Limiting phenomenon: mechanical vibration of fuel assembly Upper limit for lead velocity: 1.8 1.9 m/s Erosion of protective iron oxide lm on steel cladding surface

Tcool

Q Q = = mC p AvC p

Coolant ow area in lead must be ~3 times larger than in sodium to achieve the same heat removal rate!

Coolant channel dimensions

Refence design parameters

Diameter Pitch Area

Cladding diameter: 8.6 mm Average linear power: 30 kW/m Fuel column height: 1.0 m

800

Coolant temperature K

Sodium velocity: 8.0 m/s Hexagonal geometry TNa = 100 K -> P/D = 1.20

750

700

Lead velocity: 1.75 m/s

650 0.4 0.2 z m 0.0 0.2 0.4

TPb= 100 K -> P/D = 1.62

Clad temperature

Heat transfer from fuel clad to bulk coolant leads to temperature difference:

h (Tsurf

(z) Tcool ) = D

Nu k h= Dh

The heat transfer coefcient depends on thermal conductivity of coolant, on the dimensionless Nusselt number and on the so called hydraulic diameter:

4A Dh = Pwet
Pwet 1 = D 2

Dh

Physical properties

Thermal conductivity [W/(m K)]

80

60

Sodium

Thermal conductivity of sodium larger than for lead

40

k Na (T ) = 109.7 0.0645T +1.173 105 T 2

Lead T[K]

20

kPb (T ) = 9.2 + 0.011T

800 900 1000 1100 1200

700

40

Nusselt number
Lead

Nusselt number depends on density, heat capacity, velocity, geometry and thermal conductivity.

30

Nu = 0.047(1 e3.8(P / D1) )(Pe0.77 + 250)

Pe =

20

C p vDh
k

Sodium
10

Reference conguration: Nu[Pb] > Nu[Na]

T[K]
700 800 900 1000 1100 1200

Temperature difference

40

Tsurf - Tcool [K]

(z) Dh T (z) = D Nu k

4A Dh = Pwet

30

Lead

20

Nu x k ~ same for lead and sodium

Sodium

10

Dh ~3 times larger for lead

T [K]

700

800

900 1000 1100 1200

For same bulk coolant temperature, temperature difference between clad and coolant several times larger in lead

Cladding temperatures

Clad surface temperature [K]

800 780 760 740 720 700 680 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2

Pb Na

Due to larger hydraulic diameter (ratio between ow area and wetted perimeter), cladding temperatures are signicantly higher with lead coolant, even if bulk coolant temperature is the same.
z [m]
0.4

Maximum cladding temperature is located below the top of the fuel column.

Natural circulation

Hot coolant above core has lower density than cold coolant at the outlet of the heat exchanger Buoyancy pressure head:

Pb = g H HX ( cold hot )

hot
HHX Hch

For fully established natural convection, buoyancy pressure equals pressure losses in core and heat exchanger. Pressure drop is proportional to coolant velocity square, e.g. is the channel friction pressure drop:

cold

H ch v2 H ch m 2 Pch = f =f 2D h 2D h A 2

Volumetric expansion & buoyancy pressure head

Pb = g H HX ( cold hot )

Na (T ) = 1012 0.2205T 1.923 10 T + 5.637 10 T Pb (T ) = 11367 1.1944T

2

T = 100K Na 22kg / m 3 Pb 119kg / m 3

Five times higher pressure head in lead cooled reactors!

Pressure drop due to channel friction

Dynamic viscosity [Pa s]

0.0030 0.0025 0.0020

Pb
0.0015 0.0010 0.0005

H ch v2 H ch m 2 Pch = f = f 2D h 2D h A 2 0.316 vD h f = 0.25 , Re = Re

T [K]

Na

Reynolds numbers and hence friction factors are similar for the reference congurations. Coolant v2 Dh Na 1 1 1 1 Pb 12 0.05 3 0.2

600

700

800

900

1000 1100 1200 1300

300 000 250 000 200 000 150 000 100 000 50 000

Reynolds number
Pb Na

T [K]

Pch

600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300

Heat removal during transient

If pumping power is lost without scram of reactor (Unprotected Loss of Flow, ULOF), coolant temperatures will increase. Buoyancy forces increase, leading to increase in natural convection ow velocity. Finally, equilibrium is obtained and temperatures stabilise! For lead cooled reference core: vPb ~0.4 m/s, TPb ~ 500 K Short term (30 minutes) permitted clad temperatures: 1000 K for ferritic martensitic steels (may not survive) 1200 K for austenitic steels (would probably survive!)