Increasing Cermet Fuel Thermal Margin with Thoria for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) technology was identified as an alternative for faster space travel over chemical combustion propulsion systems by NASA in its Design Reference Addendum 5.0. Potential improvements to NTP performance were considered by improving the fuel margin to melting point. A th...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2023
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/151460 |
| _version_ | 1826197225175252992 |
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| author | Park, Gyutae |
| author2 | Shirvan, Koroush |
| author_facet | Shirvan, Koroush Park, Gyutae |
| author_sort | Park, Gyutae |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) technology was identified as an alternative for faster space travel over chemical combustion propulsion systems by NASA in its Design Reference Addendum 5.0. Potential improvements to NTP performance were considered by improving the fuel margin to melting point. A thorium-dioxide stabilized, high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) tungsten-uranium dioxide (W-UO2) CERMET fueled nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) concept was produced based on the Space Capable Cryogenic Thermal Engine (SCCTE) reactor1.
Axial fuel thoria fraction adjustments to improve the fuel thermal margin the reactor’s specific impulse were studied using a one-dimensional axial thermohydraulic analysis of an equivalent annulus model of the average fuel coolant channel. Based on the one-dimensional analysis, fuel composition was adjusted leading to a fuel mass decrease of 5.45 kilograms, excess-reactivity reduction of 962 pcm, and an increased fuel margin to melting point of 740 K for the average fuel.
Finally, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the hottest fuel pin of the base and adjusted designs with neutronics-informed three-dimensional fuel heating rates were compared. The CFD analysis predicted fuel melting in the hottest pin of both designs, identifying the potential need for additional design adjustment outside of fuel composition. The suggested changes reduced the total melting volume by 10 percent. Thus, temperature-informed adjustment of fuel thoria fraction offered improvements in fuel melting point. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:44:45Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/151460 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:44:45Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1514602023-08-01T04:02:13Z Increasing Cermet Fuel Thermal Margin with Thoria for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Park, Gyutae Shirvan, Koroush Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) technology was identified as an alternative for faster space travel over chemical combustion propulsion systems by NASA in its Design Reference Addendum 5.0. Potential improvements to NTP performance were considered by improving the fuel margin to melting point. A thorium-dioxide stabilized, high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) tungsten-uranium dioxide (W-UO2) CERMET fueled nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) concept was produced based on the Space Capable Cryogenic Thermal Engine (SCCTE) reactor1. Axial fuel thoria fraction adjustments to improve the fuel thermal margin the reactor’s specific impulse were studied using a one-dimensional axial thermohydraulic analysis of an equivalent annulus model of the average fuel coolant channel. Based on the one-dimensional analysis, fuel composition was adjusted leading to a fuel mass decrease of 5.45 kilograms, excess-reactivity reduction of 962 pcm, and an increased fuel margin to melting point of 740 K for the average fuel. Finally, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the hottest fuel pin of the base and adjusted designs with neutronics-informed three-dimensional fuel heating rates were compared. The CFD analysis predicted fuel melting in the hottest pin of both designs, identifying the potential need for additional design adjustment outside of fuel composition. The suggested changes reduced the total melting volume by 10 percent. Thus, temperature-informed adjustment of fuel thoria fraction offered improvements in fuel melting point. S.M. 2023-07-31T19:41:23Z 2023-07-31T19:41:23Z 2023-06 2023-06-16T16:38:39.235Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/151460 Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Copyright retained by author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Park, Gyutae Increasing Cermet Fuel Thermal Margin with Thoria for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion |
| title | Increasing Cermet Fuel Thermal Margin with Thoria for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion |
| title_full | Increasing Cermet Fuel Thermal Margin with Thoria for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion |
| title_fullStr | Increasing Cermet Fuel Thermal Margin with Thoria for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing Cermet Fuel Thermal Margin with Thoria for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion |
| title_short | Increasing Cermet Fuel Thermal Margin with Thoria for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion |
| title_sort | increasing cermet fuel thermal margin with thoria for nuclear thermal propulsion |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/151460 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT parkgyutae increasingcermetfuelthermalmarginwiththoriafornuclearthermalpropulsion |