Applications of Thermochemical Modeling in Molten Salt Reactors

Theodore M. Besmann; Juliano Schorne-Pinto; Mina Aziziha; Amir M. Mofrad; Ronald E. Booth; Jacob A. Yingling; Jorge Paz Soldan Palma; Clara M. Dixon; Jack A. Wilson; Donny Hartanto

doi:10.3390/ma17020495

Materials (Jan 2024)

Applications of Thermochemical Modeling in Molten Salt Reactors

Theodore M. Besmann,
Juliano Schorne-Pinto,
Mina Aziziha,
Amir M. Mofrad,
Ronald E. Booth,
Jacob A. Yingling,
Jorge Paz Soldan Palma,
Clara M. Dixon,
Jack A. Wilson,
Donny Hartanto

Affiliations

Theodore M. Besmann: Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Juliano Schorne-Pinto: Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Mina Aziziha: Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Amir M. Mofrad: Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Ronald E. Booth: Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Jacob A. Yingling: Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Jorge Paz Soldan Palma: Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Clara M. Dixon: Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Jack A. Wilson: Nuclear Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Donny Hartanto: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17020495
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 17, no. 2
p. 495

Abstract

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The extensively evaluated and consistent thermodynamic database, the Molten Salt Thermal Properties Database—Thermochemical (MSTDB-TC), was used along with additional thermodynamic values from other sources as examples of ways to examine molten salt reactor (MSR) fuel behavior. Relative stability with respect to halide potential and temperature for likely fuel and fission product components were mapped in Ellingham diagrams for the chloride and fluoride systems. The Ellingham diagrams provide a rich, visual means for identifying halide-forming components in proposed fuel/solvent salt systems. Thermochemical models and values from MSTDB-TC and ancillary sources were used in global equilibrium calculations to provide compositions for a close analysis of the behavior of a possible Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor and a Molten Salt Reactor Experiment-type system at high burnup (100 GWd/t). The results illustrated the oxidative nature of burnup in MSRs and provided information about redox behavior and possible control.

Published in Materials

ISSN: 1996-1944 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering; Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); Science: Natural history (General): Microscopy; Science: Physics: Descriptive and experimental mechanics
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/

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