Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika

The peer-reviewed scientific and technology journal. ISSN: 0204-3327

Program code for three-dimensional calculation of output characteristics for single-сell thermionic fuel element of thermionic nuclear power plant for various purposes

6/21/2017 2017 - #02 Modelling processes at nuclear facilities

Polous M.A. Solov’yev D.I. Yarygin V.I.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2017.2.08

UDC: 621.039.578:629.7

In support of the state programs for development of the Arctic region of the Russian Federation, the Rosatom State Corporation is engaged in R&D activities to create a line of autonomous low capacity nuclear power plants (LCNPP) producing electric power up to 1 MW(e). To supply heat and electricity to consumers in the rated output power range of 10–100 kW(e), the most attractive are LCNPPs of direct energy conversion with an in-core thermionic system due to their high autonomy, compactness and easy servicing. The most important component of a thermionic nuclear power plant (TNPP) is a thermionic fuel element (TFE), in which the electrogenerating and fuel elements are structurally integrated. As the basic TFE of a TNPP for a LCNPP, the single-cell TFE developed for the TNPP «Yenisey» can be chosen. Experimental studies and tests of thermionic reactors are complex and expensive; therefore, an integral part of designing TNPPs is mathematical modeling of physical processes occurring in the TFE. The paper presents the results of three-dimensional numerical modeling of thermal and electrical characteristics of a single-cell TFE for a TNPP as part of one possible LCNPP designs. These results were obtained using a technique developed on the basis of the modern software package COMSOL Multiphysics® and named by the authors «COMSOL-TFE-SC». Initial data for a single-cell TFE calculation are formulated. A description is made of the TFE mathematical model development stages in the COMSOL-TFE-SC program. The results are presented of a three-dimensional numerical calculation of TFE thermal and electrical characteristics with the use of experimental databases on current-voltage characteristics of the thermionic converter with electrode pairs Wmono-Mo and Pt-(Cr-V)-alloy and results of neutronic calculations for a possible TNPP core structure as part of LCNPP and the heat flux distribution on an external surface of the sheet pipe of TFE received on the basis of estimated thermal-hydraulic calculations of TNPP.

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thermionic NPP single-cell thermionic fuel element finite element analysis three-dimensional numerical modeling

Link for citing the article: Polous M.A., Solov’yev D.I., Yarygin V.I. Program code for three-dimensional calculation of output characteristics for single-сell thermionic fuel element of thermionic nuclear power plant for various purposes. Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika. 2017, no. 2, pp. 81-92; DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2017.2.08 (in Russian).

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