Neutronics and Thermal Hydraulics Analysis of a Conceptual Ultra-High Temperature MHD Cermet Fuel Core for Nuclear Electric Propulsion

Frontiers in Energy Research

Song, Jian¹  An, Weijian² 

[1]Department of Nuclear Science Technology, Xian Jiaotong University, China

[2]Department of Reactor Engineering, China Institute of Atomic Energy, China

关键词: space reactor;    neutronics;    thermal hydraulics;    Reactor design;    Cermet fuel;    MHD generator;    electric propulsion;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fenrg.2018.00029

学科分类：能源（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) offers unique advantages for the interplanetary exploration. The extremely high conversion efficiency of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) conversion nuclear reactor makes it a highly potential space power source in the future, especially for NEP systems. Research on ultra-high temperature reactor suitable for MHD power conversion is performed in this paper. Cermet is chosen as the reactor fuel after a detailed comparison with the (U,Zr)C graphite-based fuel and mixed carbide fuel. A reactor design is carried out as well as the analysis of the reactor physics and thermal-hydraulics. The specific design involves fuel element, reactor core and radiation shield. Two coolant channel configurations of fuel elements are considered and both of them can meet the demands. The 91 channel configuration is chosen due to its greater heat transfer performance. Besides, preliminary calculation of nuclear criticality safety during launch crash accident is also presented. The calculation results show that the current design can meet the safety requirements well.

【 授权许可】

CC BY