ORNL-1816 - the Molten Salt Energy Technologies Web Site

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Design work is under way on an in-pile test
loop for operation in a horizontal beam hole of
the MTR. This work is being done in cooperation
with the Solid State Division and Pratt & Whitney
Aircraft. The specifications for the loop have
been established. Tests are under way on a
horizontal-shaft sump pump for the loop, and a
salt-to-air heat exchanger has been fabricated.
The use of ARE-type sump pumps for high-flow
heat exchanger tests is being investigated. The
K-25 loop test of ARE components is being con-
tinued as a life test of the ARE type pump, and
over 3000 hr of operation has
velopmental work is under way on pumps for the
ART, with particular emphasis being given to
i mpel ler fabrication and performance.
Three lnconel forced-circulation loops have been
operated with NaF-ZrF,-UF,. The first two loops
failed after 48 and 3 hr, respectively, but the third
loop has operated for 150 hr with a Reynolds
number of 10,000 and a 20OOF temperature gradient.
A third bery I I i um-sodi urn-I nconel mass transfer
test has been completed and has been submitted
for metallographic examination, and components
have been fabricated for tests of sodium in multi-
metal loops.
Developmental work is under way on components,
such as a pump and a gas-furnace heat source,
for a loop for testing fused salt-to-MaK heat ex-
chanaers. A leak test has indicated that small
3. EXPERIMENTAL REACTOR ENGINEERING
H. W. Savage
Aircraft Reactor Engineering Division
PERIOD ENDING DECEMBER 10,1954
o bt a i ned ich to base extrapolations of the
more readily obtainable out-of-pile test data. Of
course, space limitations of the reactor beam
holes somewhat limit the conditions obtainable
in a safe and reliable experiment.
The proposed test unit will consist of an 8-ft
loop of %-in. schedule-40 seamless pipe with a
little over 1 ft in the active zone of the reactor.
The ratio of the total volume to the volume in the
high flux zone, known as the dilution factor, is
approximately 10. Flows in the turbuleni region,
Reynolds number approximately 4000, with a
maximum temperature of 1500°F have been pro-
posed. A temperature differential of 300°F and
heat transfer of 30 to 50 kw are expected with a
power density of approximately 2 kw/cm3. These
conditions probably can be achieved with a fuel
composed of NaF-ZrF,-UF, (53.5-40.0-6.5 mole %).
Design work is proceeding on this loop and its
components to meet the above specifications.
Handling equipment is planned which will fa-
cilitate isothermal operation of the loop prior to
insertion into the reactor and which will also
receive the radioactive materials after in-pile
operation.
HotizontalJhaft Sump Pump
J. A. Conlin D. F. Salmon
Aircraft Reactor Engineering Div i s icm
Two, identical, horizontal-shaft, centrifugal-type
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