INL/EXT-14-33300 Revision 0 Strategic Need for a Multi-Purpose Thermal Hydraulic Loop for Support of Advanced Reactor Technologies James E. O’Brien, Piyush Sabharwall, Su-Jong Yoon, Gregory K. Housley September 2014 The INL is a U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Battelle Energy Alliance DISCLAIMER This information was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the U.S. Government. Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness, of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. References herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trade mark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. INL/EXT-14-33300 Revision 0 Strategic Need for a Multi-Purpose Thermal Hydraulic Loop for Support of Advanced Reactor Technologies James E. O’Brien, Piyush Sabharwall, Su-Jong Yoon, Gregory K. Housley September 2014 Idaho National Laboratory Nuclear Science and Technology Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415 http://www.inl.gov Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy Under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-05ID14517 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report presents a conceptual design for a new high-temperature, multi-fluid, multi-loop test facility for Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to support thermal hydraulic, materials, and thermal energy storage research for nuclear and nuclear-hybrid applications. In its initial configuration, the facility will include 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 with this facility include the characterization and performance evaluation of candidate compact heat exchangers such as printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHEs) at prototypical operating conditions, flow and heat transfer issues related to core thermal hydraulics in advanced helium-cooled and salt-cooled reactors, and evaluation of corrosion behavior of new cladding materials and accident-tolerant fuels for light water reactors (LWRs) at prototypical conditions. Based on its relevance to advanced reactor systems, the new facility has been named the Advanced Reactor Technology Integral System Test (ARTIST) facility. Research performed in this facility will advance the state of the art and technology readiness level of high-temperature IHXs for nuclear applications, while establishing INL as a center of excellence for development and certification of this technology. The thermal energy storage capability will support research and demonstration activities related to process heat delivery for a variety of hybrid energy systems and grid stabilization strategies. Experimental results obtained from this research will assist in development of reliable predictive models for thermal-hydraulic design and safety codes over the range of expected advanced reactor operating conditions. Proposed/existing IHX heat transfer and friction correlations and criteria will be assessed with information on materials compatibility and instrumentation needs. The experimental database will guide development of appropriate predictive methods and be available for code verification and validation (V&V) related to these systems. vii viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of the Nuclear System Design and Analysis Division for supporting the development of the advanced reactor technology multi-purpose thermal hydraulic loop. This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. ix x CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................................... ix ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................. xiii NOMENCLATURE .................................................................................................................................. xiv 1. OBJECTIVE ....................................................................................................................................... 1 2. MOTIVATION ................................................................................................................................... 1 3. PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF THE MULTI-PURPOSE THERMAL HYDRAULIC LOOP .................................................................................................................................................. 4 3.1 Facility Description .................................................................................................................. 4 3.1.1 Process Flow Diagram ................................................................................................ 4 3.1.2 Facility Scale and Operating Conditions ..................................................................... 6 3.1.3 Thermal Energy Storage System ................................................................................. 8 3.2 Construction Materials ............................................................................................................. 8 3.3 Heaters ..................................................................................................................................... 9 3.3.1 Fluid Heaters ............................................................................................................... 9 3.3.2 Heat Tracing .............................................................................................................. 10 3.4 Valves .................................................................................................................................... 10 3.5 Piping ..................................................................................................................................... 10 3.6 Pumps/Circulator ................................................................................................................... 11 3.7 Instrumentation ...................................................................................................................... 12 3.7.1 Helium Loop ............................................................................................................. 12 3.7.2 Liquid Salt Loop ....................................................................................................... 13 3.7.3 Water/Steam Loop .................................................................................................... 14 3.8 Data Acquisition and Controls ............................................................................................... 15 3.9 Insulation ................................................................................................................................ 15 3.10 Aspen/HYSYS Model of the ARTIST Facility...................................................................... 15 3.11 Preliminary 3-D CAD Model of the ARTIST facility ........................................................... 18 4. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES ........................................................................................................ 28 4.1 Helium Loop .......................................................................................................................... 28 4.2 Intermediate Heat Transfer Loop ........................................................................................... 28 4.2.1 IHX and SHX ............................................................................................................ 28 4.2.2 Liquid Salt Intermediate Heat Transfer Fluid ........................................................... 30 4.2.3 Salt Chemistry Control .............................................................................................. 32 4.3 Steam/Water Loop ................................................................................................................. 34 4.4 Test Matrix Development .....................................................................................................