Detailed Reaction Kinetics for CFD Modeling of Nuclear Fuel Pellet Coating for High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors

The research project was related to the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative and was in direct alignment with advancing knowledge in the area of Nuclear Fuel Development related to the use of TRISO fuels for high-temperature reactors. The importance of properly coating nuclear fuel pellets received a renewed interest for the safe production of nuclear power to help meet the energy requirements of the United States. High-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors use fuel in the form of coated uranium particles, and it is the coating process that was of importance to this project. The coating process requires four coating layers to retain radioactive fission products from escaping into the environment. The first layer consists of porous carbon and serves as a buffer layer to attenuate the fission and accommodate the fuel kernel swelling. The second (inner) layer is of pyrocarbon and provides protection from fission products and supports the third layer, which is silicon carbide. The final (outer) layer is also pyrocarbon and provides a bonding surface and protective barrier for the entire pellet. The coating procedures for the silicon carbide and the outer pyrocarbon layers require knowledge of the detailed kinetics of the reaction processes in the gas phase and at the surfaces where the particles interact with the reactor walls. The intent of this project was to acquire detailed information on the reaction kinetics for the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of carbon and silicon carbine on uranium fuel pellets, including the location of transition state structures, evaluation of the associated activation energies, and the use of these activation energies in the prediction of reaction rate constants. After the detailed reaction kinetics were determined, the reactions were implemented and tested in a computational fluid dynamics model, MFIX. The intention was to find a reduced mechanism set to reduce the computational time for a simulation, while still providing accurate results. Furthermore, fast chemistry techniques would be coupled to MFIX to effectively treat the complex chemistry thus improve the computational efforts. Based on the reaction kinetics modeling, it was determined that the detailed set of chemical reactions for the thermal decomposition of a methyltrichlorosilane (MTS)/H2 mixture consisted of 45 species and 114 gas-phase reactions. Further work identified a mechanism consisting of approximately 60 surface reactions for the surface chemistry of SiC chemical vapor deposition. A reduced mechanism for the MTS gas-phase pyrolysis was constructed using the scanning method based on optimization concepts, which consisted of only 28 species and 29 reactions. The benefits of this project are that we have determined gas-phase species produced during and after the various decomposition reactions of MTS. The success of the computational approaches can now be used to predict the complex chemistry associated with the CVD process in producing nuclear fuel. It is expected that the knowledge we acquired can be easily transferred and that it will contribute to further experimental investigations. Furthermore, the computational techniques can now be used for reactor design and optimization for the next generation of nuclear reactors

Simulating Gas-Liquid Flows in an External Loop Airlift Reactor

The external loop airlift reactor (ELALR) is a modified bubble column reactor that is composed of two vertical columns that are connected with two horizontal connectors. Airlift reactors are utilized in fermentation processes and are preferred over traditional bubble column reactors because they can operate over a wider range of conditions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations can be used to enhance our understanding of the hydrodynamics within these reactors. In the present work, the gas-liquid flow dynamics in an external loop airlift reactor are simulated using CFDLib with an Eulerian-Eulerian ensemble-averaging method in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems. In addition, models are employed for the interphase momentum transfer drag coefficient and turbulence behavior. The CFD simulations for temporal and spatial averaged gas holdup are compared to the experimental measurements of Jones and Heindel [1] who used a 10.2 cm diameter ELALR over a range of superficial gas velocities from 0.5 to 20 cm/s. The effect of specifying a mean bubble diameter size for the CFD modeling is examined. The objectives are to validate 2D and 3D CFD simulations with experimental data in order to predict the hydrodynamics in an airlift reactor for future studies on scale-up and design

Reputation and Competition among Information Intermediaries

Session 85: Topics in InformationThis paper investigates the e§ect of competition on the reputation mechanism in the market for information intermediaries, such as rating agencies. I use a dynamic model to endogenize the value of reputation so as to enable comparison of equilibria under di§erent market structures. In the model, behavior is determined by weighing the current rating fee against the future value the rating agency derives from having a higher reputation. I show that competition worsens the quality of ratings by reducing the value of high reputation but not the short-term gain of cheating.published_or_final_versio

Analysis of solid structures and stresses in a gas fluidized bed

ABSTRACT Structures and stresses for the solid phase in a gas-solid fluidized bed are analyzed using results from hybrid simulations. The hybrid method couples the discrete element method (DEM) for particle dynamics with the averaged two-fluid (TF) equations for the gas phase. The coupling between the two phases is mod- INTRODUCTION Gas-solid fluidized beds are widely used in many industrial applications, e.g., fluid catalytic cracking, due to its good contacting between gas and solid phases, which prompts rapid heat and mass transfer and fast chemical reactions. However, the dynamics of gas-solid fluidized beds need to be better understood in order to improve existing processes and scale up new processes [1]. The dynamics of fluidized beds can be described at different levels of details Kinetic theory of granular flows (KTGF) has been successfully applied to the TFM for fluidization in the last decade The multiphase flows that comprise fluidized beds are intrinsically unstable, and spatial structures such as clusters and streamers of particles, and bubble-like voids are commonly observe

CFD Modeling and X-Ray Imaging of Biomass in a Fluidized Bed

Computational modeling of fluidized beds can be used to predict the operation of biomass gasifiers after extensive validation with experimental data. The present work focused on validating computational simulations of a fluidized bed using a multifluid Eulerian–Eulerian model to represent the gas and solid phases as interpenetrating continua. Simulations of a cold-flow glass bead fluidized bed, using two different drag models, were compared with experimental results for model validation. The validated numerical model was then used to complete a parametric study for the coefficient of restitution and particle sphericity, which are unknown properties of biomass. Biomass is not well characterized, and so this study attempts to demonstrate how particle properties affect the hydrodynamics of a fluidized bed. Hydrodynamic results from the simulations were compared with X-ray flow visualization computed tomography studies of a similar bed. It was found that the Gidaspow (blending) model can accurately predict the hydrodynamics of a biomass fluidized bed. The coefficient of restitution of biomass did not affect the hydrodynamics of the bed for the conditions of this study; however, the bed hydrodynamics were more sensitive to particle sphericity variation

Theoretical Study of the Pyrolysis of Methyltrichlorosilane in the Gas Phase. 1. Thermodynamics

Structures and energies of the gas-phase species produced during and after the various unimolecular decomposition reactions of methyltrichlorosilane (MTS) with the presence of H2 carrier gas were determined using second-order perturbation theory (MP2). Single point energies were obtained using singles + doubles coupled cluster theory, augmented by perturbative triples, CCSD(T). Partition functions were obtained using the harmonic oscillator-rigid rotor approximation. A 114-reaction mechanism is proposed to account for the gas-phase chemistry of MTS decompositions. Reaction enthalpies, entropies, and Gibbs free energies for these reactions were obtained at 11 temperatures ranging from 0 to 2000 K including room temperature and typical chemical vapor deposition (CVD) temperatures. Calculated and experimental thermodynamic properties such as heat capacities and entropies of various species and reaction enthalpies are compared, and theory is found to provide good agreement with experiment

Assessing Ventilation Strategies to Reduce the Spread of Pathogens in Restaurants

Since first recognizing COVID-19 as a rapidly spreading virus, research has been pursued to determine how to reduce or mitigate the transmission. Many restaurants reduced capacity and increased distance between tables to maintain social distancing. However, patrons remove masks while eating and this does not guarantee the prevention of viral transmission. The goal of this study was to understand how virus spreads in an air-conditioned restaurant using computational fluid dynamics. Three configurations for supply and return vents were modeled in a scenario where a carrier sneezes and releases virus-laden saliva droplets into the air. The distributions of droplets airborne, deposited on surfaces and exhausted through return vents, were compared to determine where vent configuration reduces the risk of infection for patrons. The effect of air changes per hour (ACH) was studied by comparing the percentages of airborne and exhausted droplets. Lastly, two vent configurations were compared in a scenario with multiple diners talking within the span of 2 minutes. A staggered supply vent configuration was found to be most effective in removing airborne particles. Increasing ACH decreased the percentage of airborne particles. Smaller respiratory particles released by activities like talking have a higher percentage being exhausted than larger sneeze droplets

A Validation Study for the Hydrodynamics of Biomass in a Fluidized Bed

Computational modeling of fluidized beds can be used to predict operation of biomass gasifiers after extensive validation with experimental data. The present work focused on computational simulations of a fluidized bed using a multifluid Eulerian-Eulerian model to represent the gas and solid phases as interpenetrating continua. Hydrodynamic results from the simulations were quantitatively compared with X-ray flow visualization studies of a similar bed. It was found that the Gidaspow model can accurately predict the hydrodynamics of the biomass in a fluidized bed. The coefficient of restitution of biomass was fairly high and did not affect the hydrodynamics of the bed; however, the model was more sensitive to particle sphericity variation