Heat Transport and Power Conversion of the Kilopower Reactor Test
Heat Transport and Power Conversion of the Kilopower Reactor Test
复制标题
千功率反应堆测试的热传输和功率转换
DOI：
10.1080/00295450.2019.1709364
复制
发表时间：
2020
影响因子：
1.5
通讯作者：
N. Lugasy
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
M. Gibson;D. Poston;P. McClure;J. Sanzi;T. Godfroy;M. Briggs;Scott D. Wilson;Nicholas A. Schifer;Max F. Chaiken;N. Lugasy
Kilopower反应堆的设计目的是提供4至40 kW的稳态热功率范围，并将产生的热量转换为1至10 kW的电输出，提供25%的总系统效率。这一范围的热能和电能来源于两种基本设计：小型1千瓦（电力）设计和较大的10千瓦（电力）电力设计，旨在支持科学和人类探索任务的地面和空间动力。使用斯特林技术的千瓦反应堆（KRUSTY）实验是使用1千瓦（电力）Kilopower设计建造的，通过使用现有的基础设施使测试负担得起，并在3年的时间内完成。来自较小、较低质量系统的数据可以扩展到较大的10千瓦（电力）系统，因为材料和中子设计是相似的。这些设计中的每一个都使用相同的燃料、热传输系统和适当规模的功率转换系统，以产生用于使命使用的期望的电输出功率。热传输系统使用被动操作的多个热管，并且不需要任何电泵或其他寄生负载来冷却反应堆堆芯。这种类型的反应堆冷却提供了多层冗余，使其成为将自调节反应堆耦合到可变输出功率转换系统的理想选择。功率转换器接受由热管传递的反应堆热量，并通过其热力学斯特林循环和线性交流发电机产生所需的电力。本文提供了有关实验中使用的钠热管，产生电力的斯特林功率转换器，以及组成1千瓦（电）Kilopower反应堆的整个电力系统的详细信息。
Abstract The Kilopower reactors have been designed to provide a steady-state thermal power range between 4 and 40 kW and to convert the heat generated to an electrical output of 1 to 10 kW(electric), providing an overall system efficiency of 25%. This range of thermal and electrical power has been derived from two basic designs: the small 1-kW(electric) design and the larger 10- kW(electric) electric design intended to support science and human exploration missions for surface and in-space power. The Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) experiment was built using the 1-kW(electric) Kilopower design to make the test affordable by using existing infrastructure and to complete it in a 3-year timeframe. The data from the smaller, lower-mass system could be extended to the larger 10-kW(electric) system, knowing that the materials and neutronic design are similar. Each of these designs use the same fuel, heat transport systems, and power conversion systems at the appropriate scale to produce the desired electrical output power for mission use. The heat transport system uses multiple heat pipes that operate passively and do not require any electrical pumps or other parasitic loads to cool the reactor core. This type of reactor cooling provides several layers of redundancy and makes it ideal for coupling a self-regulating reactor to a variable-output power conversion system. The power converters accept the reactor heat that has been delivered by the heat pipes and create the needed electrical power through their thermodynamic Stirling cycle and linear alternator. This paper provides details about the sodium heat pipes used in the experiment, the Stirling power converters that create the electricity, and the overall power system that make up the 1-kW(electric) Kilopower reactor.