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Dynamic simulation of a space gas-cooled reactor power system with a closed Brayton cycle

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Abstract

Space nuclear reactor power (SNRP) using a gas-cooled reactor (GCR) and a closed Brayton cycle (CBC) is the ideal choice for future high-power space missions. To investigate the safety characteristics and develop the control strategies for gas-cooled SNRP, transient models for GCR, energy conversion unit, pipes, heat exchangers, pump and heat pipe radiator are established and a system analysis code is developed in this paper. Then, analyses of several operation conditions are performed using this code. In full-power steady-state operation, the core hot spot of 1293 K occurs near the upper part of the core. If 0.4 $ reactivity is introduced into the core, the maximum temperature that the fuel can reach is 2059 K, which is 914 K lower than the fuel melting point. The system finally has the ability to achieve a new steady-state with a higher reactor power. When the GCR is shut down in an emergency, the residual heat of the reactor can be removed through the conduction of the core and radiation heat transfer. The results indicate that the designed GCR is inherently safe owing to its negative reactivity feedback and passive decay heat removal. This paper may provide valuable references for safety design and analysis of the gas-cooled SNRP coupled with CBC.

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Abbreviations

A :

Flow area/m2

C :

Delayed neutron precursor concentration/m−3

c p :

Specific heat capacity/(J · kg−1·K−1)

D :

Hydraulic diameter/m

E :

Effective energy fraction

f :

Friction coefficient

H :

Height/m

h :

Heat transfer coefficient/(W·m−2·K−1)

I :

Moment of inertia/(kg·m2)

k :

Thermal conductivity (W · m−1 · K−1)

m :

Mass/kg

M:

Number

N :

Shaft speed (rad · s−1)

Nu :

Nusselt number

P :

Power/W

Pr :

Prandtl number

p :

Pressure/Pa

Q :

Volumetric heat generation/(W · m−3)

R :

Radius/m

R g :

Gas constant/(J · kg−1 · K−1)

Re :

Reynolds number

r :

Radial coordinate/m

S :

Area/m2

T :

Temperature/K

t :

Time/s

V :

Volume/m3

W :

Mass flow rate/(kg · s−1)

z :

Axial coordinate/m

ρ :

Reactivity (Δk·k−1); Density/(kg · m−3)

λ :

Decay constant/s−1

Λ :

Neutron generation time/s

β :

Delayed neutron fraction

ε :

Emissivity

α :

Reactivity feedback coefficient/(Δk·k−1 · K−1)

σ :

Stefan-Boltzmann constant/(5.67 × 10−8 W·m−2·K−4)

alt:

Alternator

b:

Core block

bin:

Core block inner surface

bout:

Core block outer surface

bv:

Core block and pressure vessel

com:

Compressor

Cin:

Compressor inlet

Cout:

Compressor outlet

d:

Downcomer

db:

Downcomer and core block

decay:

Decay

din:

Downcomer inner

dout:

Downcomer outer

dv:

Downcomer and pressure vessel

eff:

Effective

f:

Fuel pin

fb:

Fuel pin and core block

fiss:

Fission

fout:

Fuel pin outer surface

g:

He-Xe gas

gb:

Gas and core block

gf:

Gas and fuel pin

i :

delayed neutron group

iavg:

Average

in:

External reactivity

inner:

Inner surface

iref:

Reference

j :

Fission product group

n:

Component

outer:

Outer surface

p:

Annular gas passage

pin:

Gas passage inner

pout:

Gas passage outer

pv:

Pressure vessel

pvin:

Pressure vessel inner surface

pw:

Plate wall

pwH:

Plate wall high-pressure side

pwL:

Plate wall low-pressure side

r:

Radial reflector

rout:

Radial reflector outer surface

RCH:

Recuperator high-pressure side

RCL:

Recuperator low-pressure side

RCP:

Recuperator passage

s:

Solid

shaft:

TAC shaft

sp:

Space environment

Tin:

Turbine inlet

Tout:

Turbine outlet

tur:

Turbine

x:

Core block ring

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U1967203), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFB1901100) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2019M3737).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Science and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    Chenglong Wang, Ran Zhang, Kailun Guo, Dalin Zhang, Wenxi Tian, Suizheng Qiu & Guanghui Su

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  1. Chenglong Wang
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  2. Ran Zhang
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Correspondence to Wenxi Tian or Suizheng Qiu.

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Wang, C., Zhang, R., Guo, K. et al. Dynamic simulation of a space gas-cooled reactor power system with a closed Brayton cycle. Front. Energy 15, 916–929 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-021-0757-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-021-0757-9

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