KR101482018B1 - Space Power Reactor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a space power reactor. A fuel element made by mixing slightly enriched uranium and moderator is installed in a reactor core to maintain the life span of 15 to 20 years. It is manufactured with a water type capable of producing power through a thermoelectric element or a stirring generator, thereby applying it to a deep space probe or a spacecraft such as planet or satellite orbiter without the limitation of the nonproliferation treaty and installing it to a small lunar base.

Description

Space Power Reactor

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a space reactor, and more particularly, to a space reactor capable of generating and supplying power itself in an outer space that can not be supplied with power from the outside.

As is well known, many spacecrafts, including satellites, use solar light to power the system.

However, the power supply system using solar light has a disadvantage that it can not be used in the back of the moon where the sunlight is not closed or in the deep space.

Long-half-life radioisotopes, such as the plutonium isotopes used up to now, can provide long-term energy, but they can not be produced in countries that do not have nuclear weapons and can not be distributed because they produce only small quantities.

In addition, when the above-mentioned radioisotope is used, it is disadvantageous in that the volume and weight become too large to obtain a high output, which is not suitable for a high output region. Therefore, it is inevitable to develop a space reactor using uranium fuel to obtain high output.

However, the United States and Russia use inorganic enriched uranium (enrichment of 90 w / o or more) as a space reactor fuel, and these fuels can not be used in countries other than nuclear powers.

Therefore, it is required to develop a space reactor capable of continuously producing and supplying power in space for a long time while using low-enriched nuclear fuel which is not restricted by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

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Korean Registered Patent No. 10-0952301 (registered on Apr. 02, 2010) Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0075487 (published on July 06, 2011) Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1998-132994 (published on May 22, 1998) Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-303691 (Published Oct. 18, 2002)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a space reactor capable of minimizing the total weight and mounting it on a space launch vehicle using a low-enrichment fuel.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a space reactor, comprising: a reflector container having an interior space; A control rod inserted and fixed in a plurality of control rod insertion tubes installed vertically through a central portion of the reflector vessel; A plurality of fuel bodies filled in the inside of the reflector vessel around the control rod insertion tubes; A core coolant circulating a plurality of cooling holes vertically penetrating the inside of the fuel bodies and the reflector vessel in the reflector vessel and transferring the core heat outward; A generator means connected to the outer circumferential surface of the reflector vessel for generating electricity using core heat transferred to the outside by the core coolant; And a heat dissipating unit installed outside the electric power generating unit to dissipate heat in the outside of the reflector vessel to the outside.

Here, the reflector is made of beryllium (Be), and the control rod is made of boron carbide (B ₄ C).

In addition, it is preferable that the fuel body has a hexagonal pillar shape to fill the inside of the reflector container with a flat surface type honeycomb structure.

Also, it is preferable that the fuel body is formed by mixing uranium fuel and a moderator, and the uranium fuel is made of low enriched uranium of less than 20 w / o.

Further, it is preferable that the moderator is made of any one selected from hydrogen oxides containing hydrogen, including lithium hydride (LiH) or zirconium hydride (ZrH).

In addition, it is preferable that the cooling body is formed by a cooling pipe inserted and installed vertically through the center of the hexagonal column. Here, the cooling pipe may be made of any one selected from a high temperature resistant steel alloy.

In addition, it is preferable that a wick is fitted in the cooling pipe.

In addition, the core coolant preferably comprises NaK, which is a liquid metal coolant.

Preferably, the power generating means comprises a plurality of thermoelectric elements that are fixedly installed on the outer circumferential surface of the reflector container with a neutron shielding member interposed therebetween in the circumferential direction.

Further, it may further include a heat insulating material filling between the thermoelectric elements and surrounding the outer circumferential surface of the reflector container.

In addition, the heat dissipating means may be configured to fix the thermoelectric element on the outside to cool the thermoelectric element.

Here, the heat dissipating means may include a heat dissipating plate spaced around the reflector container; And a heat radiating plate cooling pipe connecting the thermoelectric element outer cooling pipe and the heat radiating plate to circulate the heat radiating cooling fluid therebetween; As shown in FIG.

The power generating unit may include a stirling generator installed to be connected to an outer circumference of the reflector vessel.

According to the space nuclear reactor of the present invention, the fuel body made by mixing the low-enrichment uranium fuel and the moderator is installed inside the core of the reflector vessel to maintain the lifetime of 15 to 20 years, and the thermoelectric element or the stirling generator It is designed to be able to be produced in a small size so that it can produce electricity through the use of nuclear weapons. It can be used not only in space flight such as deep space probe, planetary and satellite orbit, .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a space reactor according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
2 is a longitudinal half sectional schematic view of the space reactor of FIG. 1;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the specification.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional schematic view showing a space nuclear reactor according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional schematic view of the space nuclear reactor of FIG.

1 to 2, a space reactor 1 of the present embodiment includes a reflector vessel 10, a control rod 20, a fuel body 30, a core coolant 40, a power generating means 50, A heat dissipating means 60 and a heat insulating material 70.

The reflector vessel 10 is in the form of a barrel-shaped vessel having an inner receiving space, and serves as both a reflector vessel and a pressure vessel for shielding the leakage of neutrons during the fission process. Here, the reflector vessel 10 is made of beryllium (Be) material.

In the meantime, the reflector vessel 10 is formed with a cooling hole 41 vertically penetrating the inside of the wall and forming a downward flow of the core coolant 40 at intervals along the circumferential direction, and the control rod 20 And a control rod insertion tube 12 for inserting the control rod insertion tube 12 vertically.

The control rod insertion tube 12 is formed in a hexagonal column shape so as to have a honeycomb arrangement structure inside the reflector vessel 10 together with a fuel body 30 to be described later. The control rod insertion tube 12 has a control rod insertion hole 13 are vertically penetrated.

Here, the control rod insertion tube 12 is provided at three centers with a predetermined distance from each other in the center of the reflector vessel 10. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and it is natural that the number of the control rods 20 used for controlling the output of the space reactor is variously increased or decreased depending on the number of the control rods 20.

The control rod 20 is fixedly accommodated in the control rod insertion hole 13 formed inside the reflector vessel 10 as described above so as to control the reactivity of the uranium fuel contained in the fuel body 30 to control the output . Here, the control rod 20 is made of boron carbide (B ₄ C) material.

The fuel assembly 30 is formed by mixing a uranium fuel and a moderator so as to minimize the size of the reactor and maintain a lifetime of 15 years or more. The fuel assembly 30 has a honeycomb structure inside the reflector vessel 10 on a flat surface, And is formed in a hexagonal column shape to be filled.

 Here, low-enriched uranium of less than 20 w / o which can be used in countries other than nuclear powers like Korea is used, and the moderator is a hydrogen-containing hydrogen (LiH) or zirconium hydride (ZrH) Oxide. ≪ / RTI >

 A cooling pipe 31 is provided vertically through the hexagonal column-shaped central portion of each of the fuel assemblies 30 so as to vertically penetrate the cooling holes 42 for achieving upward flow of the core coolant 40 ).

The cooling pipe 31 also serves to isolate the fuel cell and the core coolant 40 flowing in the fuel cell. Here, the cooling pipe 31 is preferably made of a high temperature resistant steel alloy material in consideration of the core temperature of the reactor being operated at about 800 ° C.

 The core coolant 40 is thus naturally circulated through the sidewalls of the reflector vessel 10 and the cooling holes 41 and 42 formed in the fuel bodies 30 inside the reflector vessel 10, The core heat generated in the process of fission of the uranium fuel is transmitted to the outside of the reflector vessel 10 equipped with the power generating means.

Here, the core coolant 40 is a liquid metal coolant Nak. NAK is a sodium-potassium binary liquid metal coolant containing about 78 wt% of potassium and is liquid at room temperature unlike sodium.

 Accordingly, the core coolant 40 is heated inside the core, heated and boiled through the cooling holes 42 formed in the respective fuel bodies 30, flows upward, discharges heat outside the core, is cooled and condensed, And flows through the cooling hole 41 formed in the vessel 10 downward to transfer the inner heat of the core to the outside of the core.

In particular, a wick 35 is provided in the inside of the cooling hole 42 formed by the cooling pipe 31 inside the fuel body 30, and a capillary force during boiling by the heat conduction pipe principle So that fluid circulation of the core coolant 40 can be performed more easily.

The power generating means 50 is configured to generate electricity using the core heat that is installed on the outer circumferential surface of the reflector vessel 10 and is conveyed outward by the core coolant 40.

The power generating means 50 includes a plurality of thermoelectric elements 51 fixedly installed on the outer circumferential surface of the reflector vessel 10 in the circumferential direction with a neutron shield 52 therebetween. do.

Meanwhile, the neutron shielding body 52 prevents the thermoelectric elements 51 from being damaged by the neutrons irradiated during the fission process.

In order to maximize the power production efficiency through the thermoelectric element 51, a gap between the thermoelectric elements 51 on the outer circumferential surface of the reflector vessel 10 is adjusted so as to obtain a required temperature difference in the thermoelement 51 A heat insulating material 70 is installed.

 Here, the heat insulating material 70 also serves to reduce unnecessary heat loss to the outside of the reactor.

The heat dissipating means 60 is provided outside the power generating means 50 to radiate heat to the outside of the reflector vessel 10 to cool the heat.

The heat dissipating means 60 includes a thermoelectric cooling tube 61, a heat sink 62, and a heat sink cooling pipe 63 connecting the heat sink 62 and the heat sink 62. The heat radiating coolant 64 is water or oil, Thereby forming a heat sink cooling loop for cooling the outside of the thermoelectric element 51. [

The thermoelectric cooling tube 61 is attached to the outside of the thermoelectric element 51. The heat radiating plate 62 is spaced from the thermoelectric cooling tube 61 around the reflector 10, 63 connect the thermoelectric cooling tube 61 and the heat sink 62 so that the heat radiating coolant 64 circulates between them.

A wick 65 is provided in the cooling hole inside the thermoelectric element cooling pipe 61 in which the upward flow of the heat radiation cooling material 64 is generated as in the inside of the cooling hole 42 in the fuel body 30 So that circulation of the heat dissipation coolant 64 can be performed more easily by the capillary force during boiling by the heat conduction pipe principle.

Therefore, in the space reactor 1 of the present embodiment, the core coolant NaK heated in the reactor core is condensed outside the reflector vessel 10 to transfer heat to the inside of the thermoelectric element 51, The remaining heat in the thermoelectric element is transferred from the outside of the thermoelectric element to the heat radiating coolant. Likewise, the heat radiation cooling material 64 is heated and boiled in the thermoelectric element cooling tube 61 attached to the outside of the thermoelectric element 51, and then circulated through the heat radiation plate 62 by cooling and condensing by heat radiation.

Particularly, the thermoelectric elements 51 are equally spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction on the outer circumferential surface of the reflector vessel 10, and the thermoelectric cooler tubes 61 are attached to the outside of the respective thermoelectric elements 51 And the heat dissipating plates 62 are formed to have six sides opposite to the thermoelectric cooling tubes 61 on the flat surface and to surround the reflector container in a hexagonal shape to maximize heat dissipation efficiency, So that the temperature difference in the thermoelectric element for maximizing the production efficiency can be obtained.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to this example but may be applied to the case where the power generating means 50 is formed of a thermoelectric element 51 instead of the thermoelectric element 51, It is also possible that the suction portion of the generator is installed so that the stirling engine is driven by the heated power generation working fluid to produce electric power. In this way, when the stirling generator (not shown) is used, the power production efficiency can be more than twice that of the thermoelectric element, but the operation reliability is lowered. The above-mentioned stirling generator is a known technique, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the space-use nuclear reactor 1 of the present embodiment can be manufactured in a small size such that the total length of the core is within the range of 40 cm to 50 cm, the diameter is within the range of 40 cm to 50 cm, the total weight is within the range of 200 to 250 kg, the low-enriched uranium fuel and the moderator are mixed together to form a hexagonal column-shaped fuel body 30 to be loaded in the core to maintain a lifetime of 15 to 20 years, and a thermoelectric element 51 or a stirrer It can be designed to produce 1 to 2 kWe of power through the use of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, but it can be applied to small spaces as well as spaceships such as deep space probes and planetary and satellite orbit lines. .

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but many variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. And it goes without saying that they belong to the scope of the present invention.

1: Space Reactor 10: Reflector vessel
12: control rod insertion tube 13: control rod insertion hole
20: control rod 30: fuel cell
31: cooling pipe 35, 65:
40: core coolant 41, 42: cooling hole
50: power generation means 51: thermoelectric element
52: Neutron shielding member 60: Heat dissipating means
61 thermoelectric cooling tube 62 heat sink
63: heat sink cooling piping 64: heat radiating coolant

Claims (16)

A reflector container having an internal accommodation space;
A control rod inserted and fixed in a plurality of control rod insertion tubes vertically penetrating a central portion of the reflector vessel;
A plurality of fuel bodies filled in the inside of the reflector vessel around the control rod insertion tubes;
A core coolant circulating a plurality of cooling holes vertically penetrating the inside of the fuel bodies and the reflector vessel in the reflector vessel and transferring the core heat outward;
A generator means connected to the outer circumferential surface of the reflector vessel for generating electricity using core heat transferred to the outside by the core coolant; And
And a heat dissipating unit installed outside the power generating unit for dissipating the heat of the outside of the reflector vessel to the outside,

The power generation means includes:
And a plurality of thermoelectric elements fixedly installed on the outer circumferential surface of the reflector vessel with a neutron shielding member interposed therebetween along the circumferential direction.
The method of claim 1,
Wherein the reflector vessel is made of beryllium (Be).
The method of claim 1,
Wherein the control rod is made of boron carbide (B ₄ C) material.
The method of claim 1,
The fuel cell includes:
And a hexagonal pillar shape to fill the inside of the reflector vessel with a flat plane honeycomb structure.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the fuel body is formed by mixing a uranium fuel and a moderator.
The method of claim 5,
Wherein said uranium fuel is low enriched uranium within 20 w / o.
The method of claim 6,
Wherein the moderator is made of any one selected from hydrogen oxides containing hydrogen.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the hydrogen oxide comprises lithium hydride (LiH) or zirconium hydride (ZrH).
5. The method of claim 4,
The fuel cell includes:
Wherein the cooling hole is formed by a cooling pipe inserted and installed vertically through the center of the hexagonal column.
The method of claim 9,
Wherein the cooling tube is made of any one of an internal high temperature steel alloy.
The method of claim 9,
Wherein the cooling tube is provided with a wick.
The method of claim 1,
Wherein the core coolant comprises a liquid metal coolant NaK.
delete The method of claim 1,
And a heat insulating material filling between the thermoelectric elements and surrounding an outer circumferential surface of the reflector container.
The method of claim 1,
The heat-
A thermoelectric element cooling tube attached to the outside of the thermoelectric element;
A heat dissipating plate spaced apart from the thermoelectric-element cooling tube around the reflector; And
A heat sink cooling pipe connecting the thermoelectric element cooling pipe and the heat sink to circulate the cooling fluid therebetween; A space reactor containing.
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