ORNL-1771 - Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ANP QUARrERLY PROGRfSS REPORT
3. E TAL ~~A~~~~ ~~~~~~~
The emphasis in the engineering work has shifted
to research and component development for the
CFRE and for in-pile loops, since most of the
preoperational ARE tests have been completed.
Two types of pumps have been developed for in-
pile loop use:. The vertical-shaft centrifugal sump
pump, which would be installed outside the reactor
shield and thus would require auxiliary shielding,
is now being fabricated iii sufficient quantity to
meet the demands of the in-pile loop program and
the f orced-c i rcu lot ion corros i on testing program.
The small (4-in.-OD), air-driven, horizontal-shaft
sump pump being developed for insertion in a
reactor beam hole was tested with NaF-ZrF, at
1350'F. Some difficulfy was encountered with
initial priming, but operation was otherwise satis-
factory. A new, small pump that hos the required
small holdup volume is being designed. This
pump, which will use a turbine-type impeller, has
the advantage that both the inlet and discharge
can be at the bottom. HydruiJlic drive motors of
suitably small dimensions have been found to be
satisfactory drives for these pumps.
Additional work has been done on the development
of forced-c irculation corros ion-testi ng loops for
obtaining information on the corrosion of lntonel
in high-velocity turbulent fluoride mixtures with
large temperature differentials in the system. TWO
series of loops are being constructed to meet the
following requirements: a Reynolds numhr of
10,000 with temperature gradienfs of 100, 200, and
300°F and c1 temperature gradient of 200'6 with
Reynolds numbers of 800, 3,000, and 15,000. The
maximum fluid temperature is to be !500°F. A
forced-circulation loop is also being developed for
tctting combinations of structural metals in contact
with high-velocity turbulent liquid metals under
high temperature differentials,
Soveral exploratory tests were made of gas
burners for use with the proposed gas-furnace heat
source for h igh-temperature reactor mockup tests.
Also, a study is under way 06 the cavitation phe-
nomenon associated with operating liqiiid metal
systems at elevated temperatures, high flow rates,
-~
ID. F. SalrnQn, ANP Quar. Prog. Rep. June 10, 1954,
ORNL-1729, p 19.
34
H. w. Savage
Aircraft Reactor Engineering Division
and high pump speeds. A correlation of fluid-flow-
noise intensity with pressure data noted.
The number of stations available for convection
loop testing has been increased from 18 to 31 so
that many more long-term tests (2000 hr or longer)
nnd intensive tests of special materials can be
made. The basic design of the convection loops
has been simplified, and various means of heating
the loops and of making operation of them more
automatic are being studied.
IN-PILE LOOP COMPONENT DEVELOPMENT
W. 8. McDonald
Aircratt Reactor Engineering Division
An in-pile loop for insertion in the MTR is to be
designed, constrvcted, and operated as a joint
ORNL and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division
project. The loop is being developed for circu-
lating proposed fuel mixtures so that the extent
of radiation damage to materials of construction and
the effect of radiation on the fuel can be de-
termined. Preliminary QRNL work on this project
is concerned with the design and development of
compoiients of cr loop to operate in a horizontal
beam hole. Further developmental work was also
done on the vertical-shaft centrifugal puinp for use
with both in-pi le and out-of-pi le forced-circu-
lation loops.
Horizontal-Shaft §ump Pump
D. F. Salmon d. A. Conlin
Aircraft Reactor Engineering Division
The air-driven horizontal-shaft sump pump de-
scribed previously' was operated with NaF-ZrF,
at 1350OF. It produced a %psi head at 6000 rpm
and n flow rate of 1.5 gpm. Initial difficulty in
priming the pump was solved by momentarily
flooding the impeller labyrinth. This pump, which
was built as a pilot model for checking design
principles, hot pump performance, and reliability,
has too large o VO~~J~C;? holdup for in-pile use and
will now be used as a laboratory pump.
A new pump has been designed that has the
required small pump holdup volume., For priming,
this design incorporates a baffle in the sump tank