Abstract
A high-temperature, multi-fluid, multi-loop test facility is under development at the Idaho National Laboratory for support of thermal hydraulic materials, and system integration research for high-temperature reactors. The experimental facility includes a high-temperature helium loop, a liquid salt loop, and a hot water/steam loop. The three loops will be thermally coupled through an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) and a secondary heat exchanger (SHX). Research topics to be addressed include the characterization and performance evaluation of candidate compact heat exchangers such as printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHEs) at prototypical operating conditions. Each loop will also include an interchangeable high-temperature test section that can be customized to address specific research issues associated with each working fluid. This paper also discusses needs and challenges associated with advanced instrumentation for the multi-loop facility, which could be further applied to advanced high-temperature reactors. Based on its relevance to advanced reactor systems, the new facility has been named the Advanced Reactor Technology Integral System Test (ARTIST) facility. A preliminary design configuration of the ARTIST facility will be presented with the required design and operating characteristics of the various components. The initial configuration will include a high-temperature (750 °C), high-pressure (7 MPa) helium loop thermally integrated with a molten fluoride salt (KF-ZrF4 ) flow loop operating at low pressure (0.2 MPa), at a temperature of ∼450 °C. The salt loop will be thermally integrated with the steam/water loop operating at PWR conditions. Experiment design challenges include identifying suitable materials and components that will withstand the required loop operating conditions. The instrumentation needs to be highly accurate (negligible drift) in measuring operational data for extended periods of times, as data collected will be used for code and model verification and validation, one of the key purposes for the loop. The experimental facility will provide a much-needed database for successful development of advanced reactors and provide insight into the needs and challenges in instrumentation for advanced high-temperature reactors.
Highlights
Effective and robust high-temperature heat transfer systems are fundamental to successful deployment of Advanced High Temperature Reactor (AHTR) systems for both power generation and non-electric applications
Liquid salts have been identified as excellent candidate heat transport fluids for intermediate loops, supporting several types of advanced high temperature reactors [1,2,3,4]
Liquid salts have been proposed for use as a primary coolant for the Advanced High Temperature Reactor (AHTR) [5] and the Fluoride Salt-cooled High-Temperature Reactor (FHR) [6,7]
Summary
Effective and robust high-temperature heat transfer systems are fundamental to successful deployment of Advanced High Temperature Reactor (AHTR) systems for both power generation and non-electric applications. In addition to the heat exchangers, each flow loop in the ARTIST facility will include high-temperature test sections operating at prototypical conditions that can be customized to address specific research issues associated with each working fluid. The high-temperature test section in the liquid salt loop can be used for examination of materials issues, thermal stresses, and heat transfer. The high-temperature test section of the hot water loop can potentially be used to study flow-induced vibration of simulated sodium-cooled reactor fuel rod bundles. Experimental data for validation is required to gain confidence in the existing theoretical and empirical correlations Development of such an experimental database is needed to advance the technology readiness level of various reactor concepts and high-temperature components (such as heat exchangers). The facility is designed such that each individual loop can operate independently
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