Organic Liquids As Reactor Codants and Moderators
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<" . • t téLb TECHNICAL REPORTS SERIES No. 70 Organic Liquids as Reactor Codants and Moderators ?J INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA, 1967 ORGANIC LIQUIDS AS REACTOR COOLANTS AND MODERATORS The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GABON NICARAGUA ALBANIA GERMANY, FEDERAL NIGERIA ALGERIA REPUBLIC OF NORWAY ARGENTINA GHANA PAKISTAN AUSTRALIA GREECE PANAMA AUSTRIA GUATEMALA PARAGUAY BELGIUM HAITI PERU BOLIVIA HOLY SEE PHILIPPINES BRAZIL HONDURAS POLAND BULGARIA HUNGARY PORTUGAL BURMA ICELAND ROMANIA BYELORUSSIAN SOVIET INDIA SAUDI ARABIA SOCIALIST REPUBLIC INDONESIA SENEGAL CAMBODIA IRAN SOUTH AFRICA CAMEROON IRAQ SPAIN CANADA ISRAEL SUDAN CEYLON ITALY SWEDEN CHILE IVORY COAST SWITZERLAND CHINA JAMAICA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COLOMBIA JAPAN THAILAND CONGO, DEMOCRATIC JORDAN TUNISIA REPUBLIC OF KENYA TURKEY COSTA RICA KOREA, REPUBLIC OF UKRAINIA N SOVIET SOCIALIST CUBA KUWAIT REPUBLIC CYPRUS LEBANON UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST CZECHOSLOVAK SOCIALIST LIBERIA REPUBUCS REPUBLIC LIBYA UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC DENMARK LUXEMBOURG UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MADAGASCAR BRITAIN AND NORTHERN ECUADOR MALI IRELAND EL SALVADOR MEXICO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ETHIOPIA MONACO URUGUAY FINLAND MOROCCO VENEZUELA FRANCE NETHERLANDS VIET-NAM NEW ZEALAND YUGOSLAVIA The Agency's Statute was approved on 26 October 1956 by the Conference -on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1951. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is "to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world". © IAEA, 1967 Permission to reproduce or translate the information contained in this publication may be obtained by writing to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Kârntner Ring 11, A-1010 Vienna I, Austria. Printed by the IAEA in Austria January 1967 TECHNICAL REPORTS SERIES No. 70 ORGANIC LIQUIDS AS REACTOR COOLANTS AND MODERATORS REPORT OF A PANEL ON THE USE OF ORGANIC LIQUIDS AS REACTOR COOLANTS AND MODERATORS HELD IN VIENNA, 9-13 MAY 1966 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 1967 organic LIQUIDS AS REACTOR COOLANTS AND MODERATORS (Technical Reports Series, No. 70) ABSTRACT. The report of a panel convened by the IAEA in Vienna from 9-13 May , 1966. It con- tains status reports of the programmes of Canada, France, Hungary, India, Spain, the United States of America and Euratom, and topical summaries, based on the individual technical papers, of the technical sessions. These five sessions dealt with: organic compounds and measurement of their physical properties; stability of organic compounds; heat transfer and fouling; reclamation and purification; and analysis and analytical techniques. The summaries are in English; five of the status reports are in English and two in French. Abstracts of the individual technical papers on which the summaries are based are provided in the original language and in English if this is not the original language. (148 pp.. 16 x 24 cm, paper-bound, 32 figures) (1967) Sales price: US $3.50; £1.4.9 ORGANIC LIQUIDS AS REACTOR COOLANTS AND MODERATORS IAEA, VIENNA, 1967 STl/DOC/10/70 FOREWORD Organic liquids have been used as reactor coolants and moderators in experimental and demonstration plants for over a decade and are now being considered for larger power reactor applications. The use of these com- pounds has been prompted by their very low corrosivity, their low vapour pressure, their only slight tendency to activation by irradiation and their relatively low cost. A number of countries have embarked upon organic reactor develop- ment programmes, and organic-cooled and/or - moderated reactors are attracting increasing attention in many countries, not only for power pro- duction but for the dual purpose of power production combined with saline water conversion. As part of its programme on nuclear power development the International Atomic Energy Agency convened a Panel on the Use of Organic Liquids as Reactor Coolants and Moderators at its Headquarters in Vienna on 9-13 May, 1966. The Panel was attended by 15 participants and observers from seven countries and one international organization. This publication includes status reports of the programmes of Canada, France, Hungary, India, Spain, the United States of America and Euratom, and topical summaries, based on the individual technical papers, of the technical sessions. These five sessions dealt with: organic compounds and measurement of their physical properties; stability of organic com- pounds; heat transfer and fouling; reclamation and purification; and analysis and analytical techniques. Abstracts of the individual technical papers are also included. The Agency is grateful to the various Member States for their support and to the participants in the Panel for their contributions. CONTENTS SECTION I. TOPICAL SUMMARIES Organic compounds and measurement of their physical properties (Session 1) 3 P. Lévêque Stability of organic compounds (Session 2) 13 S. R. Hatcher Heat transfer and fouling (Session 3) 18 C. A. Trilling Reclamation and purification (Session 4) 28 H. Hannaert Analysis and analytical techniques (Session 5) 33 T. Batuecas Rodriguez SECTION II. STATUS REPORTS Some aspects of materials in organic-cooled reactors: Status Report from Canada 43 S.R. Hatcher Travaux effectués sur les caloporteurs organiques: Rapport sur l'état d'avancement des travaux en France 45 P. Lévêque Research on organic liquids as reactor codants: Status Report from Hungary 47 I. Kiss Organic liquids as reactor coolants: Status Report from India .... 54 K. Narayana Rao JEN Research Programme on organic moderator-coolants: Status Report from Spain 67 R.F. Cellini Development of the heavy-water organic-cooled reactor: Status Report from the United States of America 94 C. A. Trilling Le réfrigérant organique dans le cadre du programme ORGEL: Rapport sur l'état d'avancement des travaux à l'EURATOM 117 J. C. Leny SECTION III. TITLES AND ABSTRACTS OF TECHNICAL PAPERS PRESENTED 133 LIST OF PANEL MEMBERS 147 SECTION I TOPICAL SUMMARIES This material is based on the Technical Papers presented during the five sessions. Abstracts of the papers will be found in Section III. SESSION 1 ORGANIC COMPOUNDS AND MEASUREMENT OF THEIR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES P. LEVEQUE CENTRE D'ETUDES NUCLEAIRES DE SACLAY, GIF-SUR-YVETTE (S. et О.), FRANCE The papers mentioned here arePL-194/1, PL-194/4, PL-194/19 and PL-194/21, of which abstracts are given in Section III. INTRODUCTION Most of the products studied belong to the terphenyl family. Some tests have been carried out with certain petroleum fractions such as alkyl phenanthrenes. Phenanthrene, a by-product of the distillation of coal, is also being studied. Table I gives the composition and melting point of the products in most common use. It should be pointed out that liquid HB-40 at room temperature is at present only used as a starting fluid. Knowledge of the physical properties of these fluids.is necessary in order to assess the possibilities of their application as coolants or moder- ators. It is clear from all the papers presented that only the cooling function is considered in practice. The measurements performed must therefore be classified in two categories: (1) Those which are necessary for calculating heat transfer; (2) Those concerned with reactor safety. 1. PROPERTIES NECESSARY FOR CALCULATING HEAT TRANSFER 1.1. Density The density was measured either with equipment using the principle of Mohr' s balance or by pycnometry. All the results obtained with the product OM2 are given in Table II and Fig. 1. They differ little from those obtained with Santowax WR and OM. The results obtained with HB-40 are given in Fig. 2. 1. 2. Viscosity The viscosity was measured either by Lawaczek' s falling cylinder method, by the Ostwald semi-microcapillary method or the falling ball method. 3 TABLE I. COMPOSITION, TYPE AND MELTING POINT Santowax OM Santowax OMP Santowax WR Santowax R OM2 Ш-40 Diphenyl (wt. °lo) 3 2 <2 0 <1 0 o-terphenyl (wt.%) 65 10 15 -20 7 20 18 m-terphenyl (wt.%) 30 60 75 50 76 0.5 p-terphenyl (wt.^o) 2 28 4 23 4 0.5 Hydro-terphenyl (wt. % 0 0 0 0 0 82 Products with high 0 20 0 0 distillation point (wt. %) 0 0 85 85 Liquid at Melting point (°C) 50 . 175 room temperature FIG.l. Density of irradiated OM2 terphenyls FIG. 2. Density of HB-40 feed and coolants versus temperature Figure 3 summarizes the results obtained for the most widely studied products. It can be seen that the spread of the results is not more than ±10%, which is very satisfactory in view of the variety of products and methods. Figure 4 gives the results for HB-40. It should, however, be pointed out that the viscosity depends on the composition of the heavy products formed. These can be divided into two categories: (1) the "Low High Boilers" (LHB), the average molecular weight of which is between 250 and 450; 5 TABLE II. SAMPLES OF IRRADIATED OM2 TERPHENYLS STUDIED Composition Irradiation 1o HBR temperature Dose diphenyl orthoterphenyl metaterphenyl paraterphenyl Remarks Symbols (°Q (Wh/g) 20.4 76 3. 6 10-20-30 380 2a 4 0. 9 11. 5 48.5 3.5 10-20 and • 30% obtained 35. 6 by dilution О 10-20-30 OM2 + HBR from OMRE 10-20 and. 30% obtained 35. 6 by dilution 20. 27 200 11.74 0.33 19 56. 94 3.46 + 20.3 410 5 2. 2 13. 6 59 4.3 X 22. 25 380 0. 2 0.4 14 59 4. 35 Д 23.03 380 9.11 0.9 15. 12 57.15 3.8 • 30. 62 360 15.35 0.71 14. 07 50. 93 3. 67 V 33. 80 400 11. 9 2. 7 11. 7 47. 6 4. 20 • 34. 90 410 9. 5 2.