Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika

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

Experimental bench for gas¬dynamic investigations of the furnace channel for nuclear fuel pellets sintering

11/15/2018 2018 - #04 Fuel cycle and nuclear waste management

Kuz’min I.V. Leshchenko A.Yu. Pavlov S.V. Shamsutdinov R.N. Mochalov Y.S

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2018.4.05

UDC: 621.039

The sintering of nuclear fuel pellets in high-temperature furnaces is strictly performed in the atmosphere with well-defined requirements on the gas composition in different temperature zones of the furnace. Implementation of the preset process regimes in the furnace for sintering mixed uranium-plutonium nitride (MUPN) fuel pellets is ensured by the selection of the layout of gas supply system, the design of barriers between different temperature zones, as well as by the design of gas supply and removal units. Computational CFD model in Ansys Fluent software was created and validated for verifying functionality of the technical solutions applied in the design of furnace channel for MUPN sintering. Mockup sintering furnace channel included in the structure of the experimental bench for gas dynamic studies was designed and fabricated for validating the CFD model.

Description of the design and technical features of the mockup bench for measuring gas concentrations in the mockup furnace channel for MUPN fuel sintering is presented in the paper. The results of the gas-dynamic studies obtained on the experimental facility were used for computational and experimental substantiation of the technical solutions applied in the design of the sintering furnace channel. Functionality of the barriers for segregating the furnace, gas supply and removal units was experimentally tested. The obtained experimental data on the distribution of technological gas concentrations allow validating computational thermal physics and gas dynamics CFD models of the furnace channel for MUPN fuel sintering.

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gas-dynamic investigations sintering furnace furnace channel zone of furnace mixed uranium-plutonium nitride fuel modelling gas concentration distribution measuring gas concentration gas sampling barrier

Link for citing the article: Kuz’min I.V., Leshchenko A.Yu., Pavlov S.V., Shamsutdinov R.N., Mochalov Y.S Experimental bench for gas¬dynamic investigations of the furnace channel for nuclear fuel pellets sintering. Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika. 2018, no. 4, pp. 53-63; DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2018.4.05 (in Russian).

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