Low enriched nuclear thermal propulsion neutronic, thermal hydraulic, and system design space analysis

Krecicki, M.; Kotlyar, Dan

doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2020.110605

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although there can be certain benefits brought by isolating and analyzing subsystems on an individual basis, a coupled environment linking the analysis of the supporting NTP subsystems to that of the nuclear reactor is required to unlock the capability of parametric, rapid design space exploration. Such an approach is necessary due to the sensitivity of reactor performance to inlet conditions driven by the upstream subsystems as demonstrated by previous work in the field [6].…”

Section: Background and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The thermal hydraulic solution was calculated utilizing the NTP-THERMO code, which was developed internally by the Computational Reactor Engineering Group at Georgia Tech [6] [13]. NTP-THERMO relies on the equivalent annulus approximation to solve the radial conduction problem within the fuel element and a 1.5D conductionconvection solution.…”

Section: Tools and Modelling -Reactor Corementioning

confidence: 99%

“…[14] Taylor's correlation was adopted to solve the fuel element flow channel, and Petukhov's correlation was used to solve the moderator element flow channels. A detailed description of this solution scheme can be found in previously published literature [6].…”

Section: Tools and Modelling -Reactor Corementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The FE is solved independently to obtain the fuel centerline temperature axial distributions, which are then also used in the solution of the return channel as the wall boundary conditions. This loop is repeated until the wall boundary temperature has converged [6] [13]. The resulting axial power profiles from the SERPENT model are presented in Fig.…”

Section: Tools and Modelling -Reactor Corementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A Coupled Approach to the Design Space Exploration of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems

Petitgenet

Roper

Krecicki

et al. 2020

AIAA Propulsion and Energy 2020 Forum

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is identified as one of the preferred propulsion technologies for future manned missions to Mars and other interplanetary destinations. NTP systems can improve the returns and mitigate the risks of such missions by reducing travel time and improving payload capacity as compared to traditional chemical propulsion systems. Due to the complexity and tightly coupled nature of the nuclear reactor and surrounding NTP subsystems, the traditional decoupled approach to NTP system analysis is inadequate. A new approach is needed to enable a high-fidelity design space exploration exercise for NTP systems. The approach outlined in this paper will address an integrated model of the reactor and supporting subsystems. This model, along with the incorporation of Design of Experiments and Surrogate Modeling, will allow for the exploration of the performance of a large number of NTP system designs with respect to metrics such as specific impulse and thrust to weight ratio. The subsystems analysis is handled by Numerical Propulsion Systems Simulation (NPSS) while reactor modeling is conducted using various numerical codes. This paper proposes and demonstrates a coupled design space exploration approach for NTP systems and uses these findings to consider vehicle-level implications.

show abstract

Section: Background and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tools and Modelling -Reactor Corementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tools and Modelling -Reactor Corementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tools and Modelling -Reactor Corementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Coupled Approach to the Design Space Exploration of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems

Petitgenet

Roper

Krecicki

et al. 2020

AIAA Propulsion and Energy 2020 Forum

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…7 However, there is now a move to low enrichment, so fuel materials with a higher uranium density than UO 2 , such as UN, are being considered. 9 Molybdenum or a W-Mo alloy is being considered for the matrix, as Mo has a lower neutron absorption cross section than W. Many fuel element designs also include cladding of the fuel element outer surface and the subchannel surfaces. This cladding is often composed of the same material as the metal matrix.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscale Simulations of Thermal Transport in W-UO₂ CERMET Fuel for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

Sessim

Tonks

2021

Nuclear Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) provides a consistent source of thrust for long space missions. However, fuel development for NTP reactors is a major technological hurdle. Existing modeling and simulation tools developed by the U.S. Nuclear Engineering Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program for power reactors can be leveraged to help accelerate the fuel development. This work is a preliminary demonstration of the application of NEAMS tools to model NTP fuel. Specifically, the fuel performance tool BISON and the mesoscale reactor materials tool MARMOT are used to develop a multiscale model of thermal transport in a W-UO 2 CERMET fuel element for NTP reactors. Three-dimensional simulations in MARMOT are used to estimate the effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of fresh CERMET fuel at temperatures ranging from 1500 K to 3000 K. The ETC values from MARMOT are then used in BISON simulations that predict the steady-state temperature profile throughout a 61-subchannel hexagonal fuel element. The temperature varies by 83 K throughout the fuel element, with the highest temperature occurring near the outer edges of the element. BISON is also used to show that the temperature profile in prototype fuel elements with fewer subchannels does not vary significantly from that in the 61-subchannel element.

show abstract

Review on Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis of Fuel Element and Simulation Methods

Cárdenas R.,

Collazos Morales,

Amaya

et al. 2023

Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Low enriched nuclear thermal propulsion neutronic, thermal hydraulic, and system design space analysis

Cited by 17 publications

References 13 publications

A Coupled Approach to the Design Space Exploration of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems

A Coupled Approach to the Design Space Exploration of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems

Multiscale Simulations of Thermal Transport in W-UO₂ CERMET Fuel for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

Review on Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis of Fuel Element and Simulation Methods

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Low enriched nuclear thermal propulsion neutronic, thermal hydraulic, and system design space analysis

Cited by 17 publications

References 13 publications

A Coupled Approach to the Design Space Exploration of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems

A Coupled Approach to the Design Space Exploration of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems

Multiscale Simulations of Thermal Transport in W-UO2 CERMET Fuel for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

Review on Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Analysis of Fuel Element and Simulation Methods

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Multiscale Simulations of Thermal Transport in W-UO₂ CERMET Fuel for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion