K. Gabriel

New Cu-Cl Thermochemical Cycle for Hydrogen Production with Reduced Excess Steam Requirements

The Cu-Cl (copper–chlorine) thermochemical cycles for hydrogen production are leading examples of water-splitting methods. In this article, the heat requirements of different types of Cu-Cl cycles with various numbers of steps are analyzed, and their thermal design features are discussed in terms of water requirements, heat quantity, and heat grade. A challenge arises from the excess steam quantity requirement in the hydrolysis of CuCl2. To address this challenge, a new type of Cu-Cl cycle is proposed in this article. It is found that the steam requirement can decrease by up to ten times, compared with conventional Cu-Cl cycles, and the heat grade of the hydrolysis step in the new cycle is significantly lowered from 375°C to 150°C. The engineering challenges of the new cycle are also discussed in the article.

Review of Existing Research on Microgravity Boiling and Two‐Phase Flow

Abstract: This paper describes research objectives on boiling and two‐phase flow under microgravity conditions from both scientific and technological points of view. Existing research for various systems in flow boiling are briefly reviewed and problems indicated for research conducted by available facilities with short microgravity duration. A wide range of experimental subjects that become possible by using different types of test sections is clarified and the validity of long term experiments is emphasized. A first step outline is described for a test loop with interchangeable test sections, such as transparent heated tubes, transparent flat heating surfaces, and narrow channels optimized for individual objectives and restricted by specifications of the facility.

The effects of gravity on the features of the interfacial waves in annular two-phase flow

A physical model of interfacial waves in annular two-phase flow was studied in both microgravity and normal gravity. The wave structure was obtained for local film thickness and velocity measurements using a conductance probe technique. It was found that the wave height, and not its width, is strongly affected by changing the gravity level. In fact, the wave height in normal gravity is more than twice that in microgravity. Using an analogous approach to a turbulent, single-phase flow in a rough tube, a preliminary mathematical model was proposed to calculate the wave amplitude. The model fits well with the experimental data and shows that the wave height in normal gravity is approximately 1.7 times the combined thickness of the viscous sublayer and transition zones in the turbulent gas stream. The wave height in microgravity was estimated to be approximately 80% of the total thickness.

Thermal Aspects of Conventional and Alternative Fuels in SuperCritical Water-Cooled Reactor (SCWR) Applications

The demand for clean, non-fossil based electricity is growing; therefore, the world needs to develop new nuclear reactors with higher thermal efficiency in order to increase electricity generation and decrease the detrimental effects on the environment. The current fleet of nuclear power plants is classified as Generation III or less. However, these models are not as energy efficient as they should be because the operating temperatures are relatively low. Currently, a group of countries have initiated an international collaboration to develop the next generation of nuclear reactors called Generation IV. The ultimate goal of developing such reactors is to increase the thermal efficiency from what currently is in the range of 30 35% to 45 50%. This increase in thermal efficiency would result in a higher production of electricity compared to current Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) or Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) technologies.

A study of annular flow film characteristics in microgravity and hypergravity conditions

Abstract Annular flow is an important flow regime in many industrial applications. The need for a better understanding of this flow regime is driven by the desire to improve the design of many terrestrial and space-based systems. Gravity is a complicating factor in the studies and modeling of two-phase flows on earth. Experimental data on the annular flow film characteristics was collected in microgravity aboard the Novespace Zero-G Airbus microgravity simulator. The gravitational effect on the film thickness characteristics was examined by collecting data using an air-water mixture during the microgravity and pull-up (hypergravity) portions of each parabolic flight. Previously reported trends in annular flow average film thickness values for normal gravity are observed in microgravity and hypergravity conditions. The change in gravitational acceleration has little effect on the average film thickness and the film thickness time trace. However, the wave characteristics vary significantly.

Annular Flow Film Characteristics in Variable Gravity

Abstract: Annular flow is a frequently occurring flow regime in many industrial applications. The need for a better understanding of this flow regime is driven by the desire to improve the design of many terrestrial and space systems. Annular two‐phase flow occurs in the mining and transportation of oil and natural gas, petrochemical processes, and boilers and condensers in heating and refrigeration systems. The flow regime is also anticipated during the refueling of space vehicles, and thermal management systems for space use. Annular flow is mainly inertia driven with little effect of buoyancy. However, the study of this flow regime is still desirable in a microgravity environment. The influence of gravity can create an unstable, chaotic film. The absence of gravity, therefore, allows for a more stable and axisymmetric film. Such conditions allow for the film characteristics to be easily studied at low gas flow rates. Previous studies conducted by the Microgravity Research Group dealt with varying the gas or liquid mass fluxes at a reduced gravitational acceleration. 1,2 The study described here continues this work by examining the effect of changing the gravitational acceleration (hypergravity) on the film characteristics. In particular, the film thickness and the associated pressure drops are examined. The film thickness was measured using a pair of two‐wire conductance probes. Experimental data was collected over a range of annular flow set points by changing the liquid and gas mass flow rates, the liquid‐to‐gas density ratio and the gravitational acceleration. The liquid‐to‐gas density ratio was varied by collecting data with helium‐water and air‐water at the same flow rates. The gravitational effect was examined by collecting data during the microgravity and pull‐up (hypergravity) portions of the parabolic flights.

Thermal Design Options of New Pressure Channel for SCWRs

This paper focuses on thermal-design options of a new pressure channel for SuperCritical Water-cooled Reactors (SCWRs). The objectives of this paper are to estimate heat losses from the coolant to the moderator for a preliminary fuel-channel design and to investigate effects of the insulator thickness and moderator pressure on the overall heat losses. In order to fulfill the objectives, the heat losses for an existing reactor were calculated and compared with available values from open literature. These calculations became the basis for calculation of the heat loss for the chosen new fuel-channel design. MATLAB, and NIST REFPROP software were utilized for programming and calculation of thermo-physical properties as needed, respectively. Heat losses for different thicknesses of the ceramic insulator were calculated. These calculations showed that the heat losses for the optimum thickness of insulator, which was calculated to be 7 mm, were about 31 MW. In current CANDU reactors the operating pressure of the moderator is close to the atmospheric pressure; higher operating pressures will allow operation of the moderator at higher temperature while preventing occurrence of boiling in the calandria vessel. Higher moderator temperatures will results in a lower temperature difference between the coolant and the moderator, hence reducing the heat sink from the coolant to the moderator. The effect of the moderator pressure on the heat loss was investigated, which showed that the heat loss can be reduced by increasing the operating pressure of the moderator by approximately 1 MW per 0.1 MPa increase in pressure.Copyright

TWO-PHASE FLOW PATTERNS IN A 90° BEND AT MICROGRAVITY

Bends are widely used in pipelines carrying single-and two-phase fluids in both ground and space applications. In particular, they play more important role in space applications due to the extreme spatial constraints. In the present study, a set of experimental data of two-phase flow patterns and their transitions in a 90° bend with inner diameter of 12.7 mm and curvature radius of 76.5 mm at microgravity conditions are reported. Gas and liquid superficial velocities are found to range from (1.0≈23.6) m/s for gas and (0.09≈0.5) m/s for liquid, respectively. Three major flow patterns, namely slug, slug-annular transitional, and annular flows, are observed in this study. Focusing on the differences between flow patterns in bends and their counterparts in straight pipes, detailed analyses of their characteristics are made. The transitions between adjoining flow patterns are found to be more or less the same as those in straight pipes, and can be predicted using Weber number models satisfactorily. The reasons for such agreement are carefully examined.

Sensitivity Analysis of Fuel Centerline Temperature in SCWRs

The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) is intended to encourage the world’s leading nuclear countries to develop nuclear energy systems that can supply future energy demands. There are six nuclear reactor concepts under research and development as part of the GIF. The SuperCritical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR) is one of these six nuclear-reactor concepts. The proposed SCWRs operate at high temperatures and pressures at around 625°C and 25 MPa, respectively. These high operating parameters are essential in order to achieve a thermal efficiency of around 45–50%, which is significantly higher than those of the current conventional nuclear power plant (NPPs) which operate at a thermal efficiency in the range of 30–35%.The SCWRs high operating temperatures and pressures impose many challenges. One of these challenges is the heating of the fuel to temperatures that can cause fuel melting. The main objective of this paper is to conduct a sensitivity analysis in order to determine the factors mostly affecting the fuel centerline temperature. In this process, different thermal conductivity fuels such as Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX), Uranium Oxide + Beryllium Oxide (UO2+BeO), and Uranium Carbide (UC) will be examined enclosed in a 54-element fuel bundle. Other factors such as the sheath material and the Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC) might also affect the fuel centerline temperature. The HTC will be increased by a multiple of two and the fuel centerline temperature will be calculated. Therefore, in this paper the HTC, bulk-fluid, sheath and fuel centerline temperature will be calculated along the heated length of a generic SCWR fuel channel at an average channel thermal power of 8.5 MWth.Copyright

The influence of film structure on the interfacial friction in annular two-phase flow under microgravity and normal gravity conditions

Results for the interfacial friction factor and relative interfacial roughness on the gas-liquid interface are reported for an air-water annular flow in a small inner diameter tube (9.53 mm i.d.). The film structure was obtained through processing the time trace signal of film thickness measurements using conductance probes. The interfacial friction factor and the wave height were altered through changing the gravity level and gas Reynolds number. It was found that the wave height decreased with increasing the gas Reynolds number. The wave height in microgravity is less than half of that in normal gravity, while the friction factor was about 10% smaller in microgravity than that in normal gravity. It was shown that the annular two-phase flow friction factor decreased less dramatically as the relative interfacial roughness decreased compared to the single-phase case. It is interesting to note that the interfacial shear stress values at microgravity were very close (or even larger than) those at normal gravity. This was attributed to the thicker substrate at microgravity.