SPECTRAL ENERGIES LLC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: C56-40d

Description

Advanced energy applications may use molten salt for nuclear reactors. Molten Salt Reactors operate under extreme environmental conditions that require equally extreme methods for salt characterization and monitoring. Unfortunately, current sensor technology is not well suited to the high-temperature, corrosive, and irradiated environment of a Molten Salt Reactor.To address the issues, a laser-based technique that combines spatial domain thermo-emission with a photothermal membrane resonator will be developed that can measure density, viscosity, heat capacity, and thermal conductivity. These are critical values that must be known for future Molten Salt Reactors. The sensor will serve as a new diagnostic to better understand the nature of molten salts, guide future molten salt reactor designs, and respond to the needs of the burgeoning MSR industry.During Phase I, a prototype sensor will be developed and tested in a molten salt environment to demonstrate the feasibility of the sensor. This will include first building and calibrating the sensor. The sensor will then finally be demonstrated in a molten salt environment.Efforts to develop and commercialize advanced nuclear reactors and Molten Salt Reactor technology has grown substantially in the past decade, with stakeholders represented in private industry and commitments made through public policy (e.g., the DOE). The potential benefits of high temperature Molten Salt Reactors include greater thermal-to-electric efficiency, greater consumption of nuclear material/waste (i.e., closing the fuel cycle), better economics through passive safety, and a re-branding of nuclear energy that can generate newfound support from US citizens. Additionally, the high temperature operation of Molten Salt Reactors opens the door to the other 2/3 of the energy market including desalination, synthetic fuel and hydrogen production, and high temperature process heat. Other benefits of Molten Salt Reactor deployment include reliable carbon-free power generation with a compact environmental footprint that consumes substantially fewer material resources than many other power sources. The proposed sensor is enabling technology for the Molten Salt Reactors.