ORNL-1771 - Oak Ridge National Laboratory

AMP QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT
After the system had been thoroughly dried, all
heat wes turned off and the final system completion
work was begun. The mojsr work in this category
consists in removing the sodium system reactor
bypss, removing the flanged filter pots in the
sodium purification system, and completing the
enrichment system tie-in 9.0 the fuel circuit. Ther-
mocouple installation also has to he completed,
as we!/ as thermal insulation of the fuel pump
bowls.
The decision to remove the flanged filter pots
and to substitute weld-senled filter pots was made
several months ago, It was decided at that time,
however, to postpone this substitution unti I after
the water test. The original filters were useful in
cleaning up the water used to test the operation of
the sodium circuit. Completion of the duel enrich-
ment system in no way CIffeCtad the tea test, and
hence this work was postponed in the interest of
completing the water test as expeditiously as
possible. The fuel injection system is to be
water-tested i ndependentiy of the fuel system.
Insulation of the fuel pump bowls was postponed
to allow more rooin for access to the pumps during
the water tests. Since the pump3 hove now been
checked out, the insulation iob will be completed.
The system should be ready for charging with
sodium early in September, and the high-trmpera-
ture check out phase of the experiment will be
initiated. While the sodium checks are being rui-i,
the hot-gas le& test of the fuel system will be
performed. This test involves loading the fuel
system with mixture of helium and krypton at a
pressure of about 1.5 psi. While this gas is being
circulated at 1300OF' by the fuel purnp the annulus
circuits will be monitored by rnoss spectrographic
methods for the presence of krypton in .the annulus.
'The nevtran source WQS put in the reactor, and
the nuclear instrumentation was checked out. All
three (the PWO regular plus the spare) fission
chambers we?:^: checked, and the count-rate vs
chamber-voltage curves were plotted, The data
obtained provided the necessary information for
establishing the operational plateau for each
chambzr. Also, mechanical chaclts were mode of
the perdorinnnce of the sofety and control rods.
A modification of the rod-cooling circuit was
required in order to minimize the heat loss from the
center of the reactoi. This rieccssitated instal-
lation of proportioning orifices to gat correct
helium flow c.uruund th> fission chambers and the
safety rods.
10
Final modifications of the sodium and the fuel
loading systems were completed, and the building
electric and helium systems were made ready to
accommodate the loading facilities when they are
brought into the bui Iding. Final arrangements
have been completed for attaching the fuel-sampling
system. This sampling system will not be left
connected when the power run is initiated.
The engineering prints for the entire ARE instal-
lation are now up to date, and the electrical prints,
in particular, were used successfully in checking
out the many heater circuits involved in the experi-
ment.
CHARACTERISTICS ai= T HE FUEL AND THE
SODIUM SYSTEMS DURING WATER TESTS
The characteristics of both the fuel and the
sodium systems while circulating water have been
determined, Upon removal of the fuel heat ex-
changer bypass loop, a glass rotameter was tempo-
rarily installed in the fuel circuit between the
reactor outlet and the heat exchangers. A direct
calibration of the high-temperature fuel rotameter
against the glass rotameter was obtained with
water as the fluid. Conversion of water flow to
fuel flow' is made by
42
where
q1 = water flow (gprn) ,
q2 = fuel flow (gpm) ,
= water density (g/cm3) ,
pf 1
= fuel density (g/cm3) ,
Pf2
pF = flocrt density (g/cm3) .
During the period of water operation, data on
pump speed vs flow rate were obtained (Fig. 1.1).
Also, the pressure head from the pump suction to
the ieactor inlet was measured (Fig. 1.2). The
system characteristics, as shown in these two
ciJrves, shoirld be the same during operation with
f I uor i des.
'A. L. Southern. Discussion of the Rotnmeter Used in
the ARE Fuel Czrcvit, ARE Files.