KR101647015B1 - Bead blaster for spacer grid of a nuclear fuel assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a bead blaster for a bead blasting process for bead blasting an outer surface of a support grid in a support grid manufacturing process of a nuclear fuel assembly, comprising: a work chamber (110) provided with a door that is airtight by an airtight member and can be opened and closed; An index table (120) provided in the work chamber and rotatable by a plurality of stacked support grids; A first driving unit 130 for rotationally driving the index table 120; A nozzle unit 140 provided adjacent to the index table in the working chamber 140; A second driving unit 150 disposed outside the working chamber 110 and connected to the nozzle unit 140 by a driving arm 151 to adjust the position of the nozzle unit 140; A compressor (160) for generating compressed air; A bead storage part 170 for storing compressed bead by compressed air supplied from the compressor 160 and injecting compressed air through the nozzle part 140; A cyclone 180 connected to the lower portion of the working chamber 110 to filter the beads in the mixed air and deliver the beads to the bead storage unit 160; A dust collector 190 connected to the cyclone 170 for filtering dust in the mixed air; A controller 200 for controlling the driving of the first driving unit 130 and the second driving unit 150 and controlling the spray pressure through the nozzle unit 140 by controlling the compressor 160, .

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a bead blaster for a nuclear fuel assembly,

The present invention relates to a bead blaster for a support grid for surface treatment by spraying a projection onto the outer surface of a support grid of a nuclear fuel assembly.

A nuclear reactor is a device that can be used for various purposes such as generating heat by artificially controlling the fission reaction of a fissile material, producing radioactive isotopes and plutonium, or forming a radiation field.

Generally, in light water reactors, enriched uranium, which increases the ratio of uranium-235 to 2-5%, is used. In order to process the nuclear fuel used in the nuclear reactor, the uranium is formed into a cylindrical pellet with a weight of about 5 g. These pellets are charged into a zircaloy cladding tube, a spring and helium gas are introduced into the zircaloy cladding tube, and a sealing rod is welded to manufacture a fuel rod. The fuel rod is charged into the skeleton to ultimately constitute a nuclear fuel assembly, which is burned through a nuclear reaction in the reactor.

The support grid in the nuclear fuel assembly is made up of dozens of support grid plates that form the skeleton together with the fuel rod, metering tube and guide tube. Each support grid is formed with several incisions such as slots. These support grid plates are spaced longitudinally and laterally at regular intervals so that the respective support grid plates intersect with each other, and the support grid plates are engaged with the cutouts and the cutouts to form a support grid in which a grid space is formed.

However, even if the support grid plates are inserted into the incision portion and are fastened, the support grid itself shakes due to the existence of the most clearance at the incision portion. Therefore, each intersection point where the support grid and the support grid cross each other and the non-fixed part such as the outside and the corner are welded to remove the shaking of the support grid, and generally laser welding is used.

On the other hand, since the support grid maintains the gap between the aggregates in the reactor, the dimension control must be precisely carried out, and the burr or foreign matter must be removed from the surface because there is no protrusion on the surface or the edge.

Therefore, the support grating, which has completed the welding operation, is subjected to a grinding process and a bead blasting process on the surface as a subsequent process.

For example, the applicant's registration number 10-1076378 (registered on Oct. 18, 2011) shows a grinding apparatus and method in which a support grid edge of a nuclear fuel assembly is automatically grinded by a programmed control unit.

The Applicant has thus developed a device capable of automating the bead blasting process of the support grating, which had previously been done by hand.

Registration No. 10-1076378 (Registration date: October 18, 2011)

The present invention relates to a bead blaster for a support grid of a nuclear fuel assembly capable of improving the quality of a support grid by automating a bead blasting process of a support grid for a nuclear fuel assembly which has conventionally been performed by hand, .

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a bead blast for a support grid of a nuclear fuel assemblies, comprising: a work chamber provided with a door that is hermetically sealed by a hermetic member, An index table provided in the work chamber and rotatable by a plurality of stacked support grids; A first driving unit for rotationally driving the index table; A nozzle unit provided adjacent to the index table in the working chamber; A second driving unit disposed outside the working chamber and connected to the nozzle unit and the driving arm to adjust the position of the nozzle unit; A compressor for generating compressed air; A bead storage part for storing the beads and injecting compressed air mixed with beads by the compressed air supplied from the compressor through the nozzle part; A cyclone connected to the lower portion of the working chamber to filter the beads in the mixed air to deliver the beads to the bead storage portion; A dust collecting device connected to the cyclone for filtering dust in the mixed air; And a control unit for controlling the driving of the first and second driving units and controlling the spray pressure of the spray through the nozzle unit by controlling the compressor.

Preferably, in the present invention, the index table further includes an upper fixing member capable of moving up and down to support the upper portion of the supporting grid.

Preferably, in the present invention, the first driving unit includes: a shaft that is installed under the index table; A shaft housing installed at a lower portion of the working chamber, the shaft housing passing through a guide plate for dust collection and rotatably accommodating the shaft; And a drive motor for rotationally driving the shaft.

Preferably, in the present invention, the working chamber further includes a retractable sealing member provided to surround the joint portion with the drive arm.

Preferably, in the present invention, a valve is provided between the nozzle unit and the bead storage unit to adjust the injection pressure of compressed air containing beads.

The bead blaster for the support grid of the nuclear fuel assemblies of the present invention can improve the quality of the support grid by automating the bead blasting process of the support grids of the nuclear fuel assemblies, which had conventionally been performed by hand, and improve the productivity and the work environment of the operator There is an effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a bead blaster for a support grid of a nuclear fuel assembly according to the present invention;
2 is a view showing a preferred embodiment of a support grid loading unit in a bead blaster for a support grid of nuclear fuel assemblies according to the present invention,
3 is a front view of a bead blaster for a support grid of a nuclear fuel assembly according to the present invention,
4 is a plan view of a bead blaster for a support grid of a nuclear fuel assembly according to the present invention,
5 is a right side view of a bead blaster for a support grid of a nuclear fuel assembly according to the present invention.

The specific structure or functional description presented in the embodiment of the present invention is merely illustrative for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment according to the concept of the present invention, and embodiments according to the concept of the present invention can be implemented in various forms. And should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described herein, but should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is to be understood, however, that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms " comprises ", or "having ", and the like in the specification are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, But do not preclude the presence or addition of steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a blister for a support grid of a nuclear fuel assembly according to the present invention includes a work chamber 110 in which a bead blasting operation is performed, an index table 120 provided in the work chamber 110, A nozzle unit 140 for spraying compressed air mixed with beads in the working chamber 110 and a second driving unit 130 for rotating and driving the index table 120, A second driving unit 150 disposed to be connected to the nozzle unit 140 by a driving arm 151 to adjust the position of the nozzle unit 140, a compressor 160 for generating compressed air, A cyclone 180 connected to the lower portion of the working chamber 110 to filter the beads in the mixed air to deliver the beads to the bead storage unit 160, A dust collecting device 190 for filtering the dust in the mixed air, And a unit 130 and a controller 200 that adjusts the bead injection pressure is injected through the nozzle, and controls the driving section 140 of the second driving unit (150).

The cyclone 180 is connected to the lower part of the working chamber 110 by piping to filter beads and dust generated in the working chamber 110, and the recovered beads are recovered to the bead storage part 170.

The dust collector 190 is connected to the cyclone 180 and filters the dust in the mixed air discharged from the cyclone 180. A well-known filter for filtering the dust and a well-known exhaust fan for exhausting the filtered air are installed.

The bead storage part 170 is connected to the compressor 160 to supply the compressed air. The compressed air supplied to the bead storage part 170 carries the beads, and the compressed beads are mixed through the nozzle part 140 Air can be injected.

A well-known valve 171 may be provided between the nozzle unit 140 and the bead storage unit 170. The injection pressure of the nozzle unit 140 may be adjusted by operating the valve 171 .

The second driving unit 150 is disposed outside the working chamber 110 to selectively operate the nozzle unit 140 and the driving arm 150. The second driving unit 150 is disposed outside the working chamber 110, The nozzle unit 140 and the driving unit are spatially separated from each other, thereby preventing the driving unit from being contaminated or damaged by beads or dust generated during the blasting operation.

In the present invention, a plurality of support grids are stacked and mounted on the index table 120 rotatable by the first drive unit 130 to perform a blasting operation. For example, when the blast operation on one surface of the support grating is completed A blasting operation is performed on the four sides of the support grid in such a manner that the index table 120 rotates by 90 degrees and a blasting operation is performed on the next surface.

2 is a view showing a preferred embodiment of a support grid loading unit in a bead blaster for a support grid of nuclear fuel assemblies according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a plurality of support gratings 11 are stacked and placed on the index table 120, wherein the support gratings 11 are supported and stacked by the assembly fixture 101 (102).

Generally, the support grid 11 is provided with a sleeve 12 to be assembled with a guide tube of the nuclear fuel assembly, and the assembly jigs 101 and 102 are provided so as to be able to fix the support grid 11 in contact with the sleeve 12 .

In this embodiment, the assembly jigs 101 and 102 may be composed of a lower assembly jig 101 and an intermediate assembly jig 102 assembled between the support grids.

The lower assembly jig 101 is seated on the index table 120 and a first locking protrusion 101a is formed on the upper portion of the index table 120 so as to be in contact with the sleeve 12.

The intermediate assembly jig 102 is inserted between the support grids 11 in the form of a square block having an inner wall opened to abut the sleeve 12 so as to be assembled in contact with the sleeve 12, And the lamination is carried out with a constant gap (G).

These assembly jigs 101 and 102 firmly support the support grid in the bead blasting operation.

An upper fixing member 210 may be provided to fix the upper portion of the supporting grid 11 to be assembled and stacked. The upper fixing member 210 may include an actuator (not shown) Up and down movement can be performed.

The upper fixing member 210 is moved to the upper position and the supporting grid 11 stacked on the index table 120 is seated in the upper fixing member 210. The upper fixing member 210 then moves to the lower end, 11 to secure the support grid 11 during the bead blasting operation.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, the controller 200 controls the first driving unit 130 to rotate the index table 120 to rotate the support grid in order to perform the bead blasting operation on the four support grids At this time, the operation of the position of the nozzle unit 140 may be controlled by controlling the driving of the second driving unit 150.

Also, the control unit 200 controls the compressor 160 to control the amount of injected beads injected through the nozzle unit 140.

The control unit 200 can perform the set work according to the programmed work order. For example, when the type of the work support grid is set in the controller 200, the controller 200 loads the programmed sequence according to the type of the support grid and calculates the bead injection pressure, the injection amount, The blasting process can be performed by automatically setting the injection position and the like.

Hereinafter, the detailed structure of the bead blaster according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. FIG.

The work chamber 110 is provided with a door 111 that can be opened and closed at the entrance and preferably a known hermetic member such as a gasket is provided between the door 111 and the inlet of the work chamber 110, Is prevented from flowing out of the working chamber 110.

A transparent viewing window 112 is provided in a part of the working chamber 110 to observe the operation state of the inside from the outside. In addition, the present invention can automate the entire bead blasting operation of the supporting grid, The hand window 113 may be provided adjacent to the viewing window 112.

The manual operation tool 113 is provided with a rubber glove to be hermetically sealed to the outside so that the operator can insert the rubber glove and manually operate the work glove 113 through the manual operation tool 113. [

A manual dispensing event that can be manually operated may be provided in the operation chamber, and a blasting operation may be performed using the manual dispensing event through the manual operation 113 after the automatic blasting operation.

The index table 120 includes a first drive unit 130 and a second drive unit 130. The first drive unit 130 includes a shaft 131 connected to the lower portion of the index table 120, And a driving motor 132 for driving.

Preferably, the shaft 131 is accommodated in the shaft housing 133 so as to be rotatable, and the shaft housing 133 is rotatably installed in the lower portion of the working chamber 110, (114).

Accordingly, the first driving unit 130 that rotates the index table 120 can be protected from beads and dust generated in the working chamber 110.

The nozzle unit 140 is connected to the second driving unit 150 by the driving arm 151 so that the nozzle unit 140 can be operated vertically, horizontally, or back and forth within the working chamber 110.

For example, the second driving unit 150 may be provided by an LM guide arranged at right angles to each other and linearly guided, and by driving motors 151, 152, and 153 provided in the respective LM guides.

The driving arm 151 is assembled to the working chamber 110 by a sealing member 115 of a bellows structure that is expandable and contractible in the working chamber 110 so as to be connected to the connecting portion between the driving arm 151 and the working chamber 110 Dust is prevented from leaking out.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

110: work chamber 120: index table
130: first driving part 140:
150: second driving part 151: driving arm
160: Comfreyer 170: Bead reservoir
180: Cyclone 190: Dust collector
200: control unit 210: upper fixing member

Claims (5)

And a plurality of support gratings having a predetermined gap between the support gratings so as to have a rectangular block shape opened on the inner wall to contact the sleeve, In a bead blaster for a support grid of a fuel assembly stacked by an interposed assembly jig,
A work chamber provided with a door that is hermetically sealed by an airtight member and can be opened and closed;
An index table provided in the work chamber and rotatable by a plurality of stacked support grids;
A shaft housing provided under the index table; a shaft housing provided below the working chamber and through which the shaft is rotatably housed, through a guide guide plate; and a drive motor for rotationally driving the shaft, A first driving unit for rotationally driving the driving unit;
A nozzle unit provided adjacent to the index table in the working chamber;
A second driving unit disposed outside the working chamber and connected to the nozzle unit and the driving arm to adjust the position of the nozzle unit;
A compressor for generating compressed air;
A bead storage part for storing the beads and injecting compressed air mixed with beads by the compressed air supplied from the compressor through the nozzle part;
A cyclone connected to the lower portion of the working chamber to filter the beads in the mixed air to deliver the beads to the bead storage portion;
A dust collecting device connected to the cyclone for filtering dust in the mixed air;
A control unit for controlling the driving of the first and second driving units and controlling the spray pressure of the compressor unit through the nozzle unit;
And an upper fixing member provided on the index table so as to be movable up and down to support an upper portion of the supporting grid,
Wherein the working chamber further comprises a retractable sealing member provided to surround the joint portion with the drive arm. delete delete delete The bead blaster according to claim 1, further comprising a valve arranged between the nozzle part and the bead storage part to adjust an injection pressure of compressed air containing beads.

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