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VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
BEGIN:VEVENT
SEQUENCE:2
UID:UW-Physics-Event-4625
DTSTART:20171027T203000Z
DURATION:PT1H0M0S
DTSTAMP:20240329T113313Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171025T165438Z
LOCATION:2241 Chamberlin Hall
SUMMARY:UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENCE OF MOLTEN SALT COOLANTS FOR THEIR A
PPLICATION TO ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTORS \, Physics Department Colloqui
um\, Raluca Scarlat\, Engineering Physics\, UW-Madison
DESCRIPTION:Molten salt technology that has the possibility of being a
sustainable source of energy that does not produce atmospheric pollut
ion and that is competitive with energy from fossil fuels. There are m
ore than a dozen start-up companies pursuing molten salt technology\,
both U.S. and internationally. Some are driven by sustainability chara
cteristics of molten salt reactors\, which can recycle spent fuel from
conventional nuclear reactors. Other companies are driven by the econ
omic advantages that arise from the inherent safety features of molten
salts as coolants for nuclear reactors. For example\, molten salt mix
tures have low vapor pressure and can operate at atmospheric pressure
without boiling up to very high temperature (1000 oC and above). The a
tmospheric pressure operation significantly reduces costs and material
testing timelines for advanced nuclear reactors. The high temperature
operation enables coupling to high-efficiency modern gas turbines (op
en air Brayton cycles with combined cycle efficiencies of >60%)\, comp
ared to steam turbines that are used by conventional\, water-cooled nu
clear power plants that operate below 350 oC (with efficiencies of ~35
%). The high temperature operation also enables a broader market for p
rocess heat applications\, and the use of gas turbines enables the pro
duction of rapidly-deployable peaking power by the use of gas co-firin
g.
\n
\nDevelopment of advanced nuclear reactors that use mol
ten salts requires an understanding of the physics and chemistry of th
e molten salts as coolants\, as solvents\, as containment barriers for
radioactive isotopes\, as optically-transparent media through which i
n-service inspection of components is to be performed. In my research\
, I investigate the interaction of molten 2LiF-BeF2 with graphite and
transport of tritium between the two\, the heat transfer behavior of t
he fluids with liquid-solid phase change\, and the physical chemistry
of molten fluoride salts. The talk will provide an overview of advance
d nuclear reactors and a discussion of the fundamental unknowns and th
e experimental challenges of studying high temperature molten fluoride
salts.
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URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=4625
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