Development Status of the Fission Surface Power Technology Demonstration Unit

Transcription

1 Development Status of the Fission Surface Power Technology Demonstration Unit Maxwell Briggs, Marc Gibson, and Steven Geng NASA Glenn Research Center 1

2 Fission Power Systems Presentation Outline The Fission Surface Power Technology Demonstration Unit Overview Component Development Reactor Simulator Annular Linear Induction Pump Stirling Engine Heat Rejection Sub-System Testing Heat Rejection System RXSim Sub-system System Level Test Status 2

3 Fission Power Systems (FPS) Fission Surface Power (FSP) ( kw) Nuclear Propulsion (100 kw - ~1MW) Small Reactor (Kilopower) (1 10 kw) 3

4 FSP Technology Demonstration Unit Non-nuclear demonstration of a Fission Surface Power System Full-scale FSP components Thermal vacuum environment Heat provided by a reactor simulator Originally designed to achieve TRL 6 4

5 Original Design Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) η 90% PCU Cntl 12 kwe nom kwe reg. 120+/-6 Vdc ELS 10 kwe Vacuum 1x10-5 torr PVA 400 Vac RVA Waste heat rejected to ambient air NaK 850 K (925 K and 275 kpa max) (450 K and 690 kpa max) Reduced budget design Core Sim 48 kwe nom (90 kwe max) P 14 kpa 160 kpa η 10% PP P +28 kpa at 1.75 kg/s ( kg/s) P 7 kpa Pwr Conv 12 kwe nom (14.4 kwe max) P 15 kpa H2O η 25% ~375 K RP 440 kpa P +190 kpa at kg/s ( kg/s) Waste Heat Exchanger 5

6 Core Simulator Core Simulator Thermally and hydraulically similar to FSP core Tested with TDU ALIP at MSFC June 2012 Delivered to GRC January 2013 Can be operated in constant power, constant temperature, or reactivity feedback modes. Core simulator 6

7 ALIP Annular Linear Induction Pump (ALIP) Electromagnetic pump / No moving parts Two Pumps manufactured Both were tested in the ALIP Test Circuit at MSFC ALIP installed at MSFC 7

8 Sub-System Testing at MSFC Core simulator demonstrated to 50 kw t FSP and TDU ALIP pump curves have been generated Flow resistance curves have been generated Showed that larger of the two ALIPs must be used during TDU testing All components tested at nominal and maximum temperatures 8

9 Stirling Power Conversion Units Two 6 kw Stirling convertors have been fabricated and tested by Sunpower Convertor 1 was fabricated in Fall of 2011 Convertor 2 was fabricated in Spring of 2012 Tested as individual convertors - Convertor 1 reached full power in Dec Convertor 2 reached full power in July 2012 Combined into a 12 kw PCU April 2013 Electrically heated test finished in Late NaK heat exchanger fabrication delayed 9

10 Radiator Testing Material Innovation 2 nd Gen RDU (2009) Advanced Cooling Technologies Composite Radiator (2011) GRC Affordable Radiator ( ) Phase II SBIR with ACT to deliver 6 radiator panels using affordable design approach 10

11 Heat Rejection Sub-System Testing Completed in January 2013 Demonstrated water pump compatibility in thermal vacuum Verified start-up, shutdown, and emergency drain procedures Pump performance data has been incorporated into TDU system models 11

12 RxSim Subsystem Test Hot NaK Preparation / Preliminary Work NaK Storage Fill/Drain Steam Cleaning NaK and Caustic Disposal Safety Permit Operating Procedures 12

13 RxSim Subsystem Test NaK Testing Operated through full operating range Verified component performance Validated subsystem models 13

14 TDU System Model Validation 900 Cool Down Temperature (K) Model Core NaK Temp Model ALIP NaK Temp ALIP NaK Temperature Core NaK Temperature Time (s) Temperature (K) Time (s) ALIP Inlet ALIP OUTLET ALIP OUTLET ALIP Inlet Core Outlet Core Inlet Core NaK Temp Model ALIP NaK Temp Model Core NaK Temp Power (W) ALIP-POW (W) 2500 Model ALIP Power 2000 EM Flow Model Mass Flow Time (s) Mass flow (g/s) Verify internal Core Sim Temps Verify Flow and Pump Power Verify Thermal Losses Verify Steady-State Operating Conditions and Transient Response. 14

15 System Level TDU Test Status Fabrication/Assembly Delay Complicated braze geometry was difficult to fabricate New NaK Heater Head Design Being Fabricated Material changes eliminated difficult brazes Final engine assembly scheduled for May

16 Conclusion Component Testing Complete TDU Testing scheduled for June 2015 Sub-System Testing Complete 16