DIVERSIFIED TECHNOLOGIES, INC. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: C56-40b

Description

C56-40b-273662Nuclear fission is a proven carbonless technology for electric generation, at present generating approximately 20% of US electricity. The next-generation (Generation IV) advanced reactors will address many of the issues with current and past reactors including improved safety, far better utilization of the fuel, dramatic reduction in high level waste and potentially higher thermal efficiency. The Sodium-Cooled Fast-neutron Reactor, one of the Generation IV reactor technologies, will not only use fission products that would become high level waste in a conventional reactor but can consume the waste from current reactors as fuel, thus consuming waste created by present nuclear power plants. Highly reliable liquid metal electromagnetic pumps are an empowering technology for fast-neutron reactors. The induction pump developed under this topic through design, fabrication and testing will provide a valuable tool for research into this new generation of reactors and could be readily scaled to commercial power plant size. Being non-contact and with no moving parts (other than the fluid being pumped) this technology is a robust, reliable, and economical way to perform the pumping required in a Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor. The design, fabrication, and testing of a working scale model electromagnetic pump with surrogate liquid metal fluid will occur in Phase I. The pump shall be optimized to maximize pump efficiency and minimize size, weight, and power. Specific design parameters for trade studies include: efficiency, pressure, pump diameter and length, flowrate, flow velocity, pipe material, and coil design (wavelength, frequency, etc.) and heat transfer. Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors are resource- efficient, and they can consume normal fission reaction byproducts as fuel. Since the sodium coolant remains in the liquid state (single-phase flow) the reactor can operate at low pressure. At present there are very few manufacturers of these pumps and those manufacturers have limited models available. Providing a custom / build-to-order pump in a flexible and timely manner will greatly aid the R&D community researching Generation IV reactors and other fields where liquid metal pumps may be of use. DTI will initially target this pump for the Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor research community, especially the topic sponsor. This equipment will also be readily usable to the lead / lead-bismuth cooled reactor community. Other industrial application include die casting, automated soldering stations, and liquid metal transfer.