US3179570A - Thermal exchange of the fuel elements in nuclear reactor - Google Patents

Thermal exchange of the fuel elements in nuclear reactor Download PDF

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Publication number
US3179570A
US3179570A US46491A US4649160A US3179570A US 3179570 A US3179570 A US 3179570A US 46491 A US46491 A US 46491A US 4649160 A US4649160 A US 4649160A US 3179570 A US3179570 A US 3179570A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
fins
fluid
fuel element
elements
nuclear reactor
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US46491A
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English (en)
Inventor
Foll Jean Le
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives CEA
Original Assignee
Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique CEA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
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Application filed by Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique CEA filed Critical Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique CEA
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Publication of US3179570A publication Critical patent/US3179570A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
    • G21C—NUCLEAR REACTORS
    • G21C3/00—Reactor fuel elements and their assemblies; Selection of substances for use as reactor fuel elements
    • G21C3/02—Fuel elements
    • G21C3/04—Constructional details
    • G21C3/06—Casings; Jackets
    • G21C3/08—Casings; Jackets provided with external means to promote heat-transfer, e.g. fins, baffles
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
    • G21C—NUCLEAR REACTORS
    • G21C15/00—Cooling arrangements within the pressure vessel containing the core; Selection of specific coolants
    • G21C15/02—Arrangements or disposition of passages in which heat is transferred to the coolant; Coolant flow control devices
    • G21C15/04—Arrangements or disposition of passages in which heat is transferred to the coolant; Coolant flow control devices from fissile or breeder material
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E30/00—Energy generation of nuclear origin
    • Y02E30/30—Nuclear fission reactors
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S376/00—Induced nuclear reactions: processes, systems, and elements
    • Y10S376/90—Particular material or material shapes for fission reactors
    • Y10S376/901—Fuel
    • Y10S376/903—Shapes

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an apparatus for inducing transverse currents of cooling fluid along the fuel elements of atomic reactors.
  • Improvement of thermal exchange between the body (whether or not encased) of the fuel elements or cartridges for nuclear reactors and the fluid which surrounds it is generally obtained by means of fins extending from the body.
  • the fluid most usually a compressed gas, circulates inside a channel containing the fuel element and the general direction of fluid flow is longitudinal with respect to the element.
  • the fins increase the thermal exchange surface.
  • they should be sufficiently short for the fall in temperature from the base to the tip of the fin to be small; on the other hand, local convection currents should be set up which improve the thermal exchange.
  • a device referred to by its inventor as a polyzonal cartridge which allows a considerable increase of the exchange surface to be obtained.
  • the fins are helicoidal and are cut by longitudinal partitions or splitters; the fall of pressure of the principal fluid flow in the main channel between the ends of the elementary channels defined by the fins is then small compared with the dynamic pressure of this same flow; the movement of the fluid between the fins is essentially an ascending rotary movement; furthermore, exchanges constantly take place between the fluid circulating in the elementary channels located between the fins and the fluid circulating in the main channel, which is obtained by means of the splitters which set up a considerable flow in the subsidiary channels and cause the fluid circulating in these subsidiary channels to be renewed periodically.
  • Circumferential fins have been used which present their faces perpendicularly to the flow of the fluid in the annular part.
  • the arrangement usually adopted is that the fins are separated by a distance substantially equal to their height.
  • the present invention consists essentially in providing transverse fins on the body of a fuel element, the thickness of the fins and the interval between them being made as small as the present technique of manufacture allows, the height of the fins being about 3-10 times the separation between them, and also in producing, along the circular transverse channels defined by the fins, a pressure field having one or more maxima, the field being obtained from the dynamic pressure corresponding to the longitudinal movement of the principal fluid current, so that the cooling fluid is constrained to travel transversely and tangentially along the circular transverse channels.
  • This fiuid under pressure may be obatined by the following means.
  • wing members On the exterior contour formed by the assembly of transverse fins, wing members are provided having the form of flat arrowheads constituting triangular blades attached to a backbone fixed longitudinally to the casing of the fuel element following a generatrix; the plane of fixing of the blades forming an angle with the plane tangential to the casing along the generatrix, the sine of which is approximately the ratio of the thickness of the passages between the transverse fins to the sum of the thickness of these passages and the thickness of the fins.
  • This structure superimposed on the transverse fins allow a difference in propulsive pressure to be set up between the inlets and outlets of the elementary transverse channels defined by these fins.
  • FIGURES 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings an embodiment of devices for the production of transverse currents of fluid along the fuel elements of nuclear reactors, according to the invention, is described below, by Way of example.
  • FIGURE 1 is a partial axial view of a casing of a fuel element comprising triangular wing members attached to a backbone fixed longitudinally to the casing, the plane of the section passing through a midrib;
  • FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of FIGURE 1;
  • FIGURE 3 is an end view of the casing of FIGURE 1;
  • FIGURE 4 is a free perspective representation of a broken piece of this same casing.
  • defiective elements have a plane triangular or delta form and are designated by the reference 27.
  • a backbone 28 which is long compared with its breadth, is secured to the transverse cooling fins 2 of the casing 1 of the rod 1a.
  • the backbone 28 is fixed to the casing along a generatrix of the right cylinder enclosing the fins themselves. According to FIG. 3 and the embodiment chosen, the number of such backbones is equal to four. They are arranged symmetrically on the circumference of the casing and from them are derived in turn the planes of symmetry for the delta vanes 27.
  • the vanes 27 are then situated on both sides of each of the backbones 28.
  • the inclination of the plane of these vanes 27 with respect to the plane tangential to the cylinder along the generatrix connected with a backbone 28 is determined so that these planes make an angle between them the since of which is preferably approximately the same or slightly greater than the ratio of the width of the spaces between the transverse fins 2 to the sum of the thickness of these spaces and the thickness of the fins.
  • the thickness of the spaces being equal to that of the fins, the angle at which the vanes 27 are mounted is about 30.
  • the inductive assembly (delta vanes and backbone) can be made from graphite, which has the advantage of acting as a moderator and absorbing few neutrons.
  • the backbones 28 can be prolonged as far as the channel of the pile and then are supported by lugs 29 on the Walls 10 of the channel and thus ensure the centering of the fuel element cartridge in the reactor channel.
  • Another modification according to the invention consists in cutting down the triangular vanes on a part of their length so as to avoid marginal turbulence of the fluid on these vanes and to suppress useless frothing of liquid under the sides of the triangular vanes.
  • the principal flow of cooling fluid is shown by the arrow 30 (FIGS. 1 and 4).
  • the arrow 31 represents the path of a portion of this same fluid subjected to deflection by the vanes 27; it is seen that this path is transverse as far as the point 32 and then passes down the space between the fins 2.
  • a nuclear reactor fuel channel the combination of a nuclear reactor fuel element and a device for removing heat from the nuclear fuel element having a sheath provided with transverse cooling fins by means of a cooling fluid so as to make the fluid circulate transversely throughout the unitary circular channels formed by the fins, a plurality of spaced deflecting elements uniformly distributed over the fins for deflecting the fluid into the circular channels, each of said elements being triangular with one side tangent to the edges of the fins and lying in a single plane oblique to the longitudinal axis of the fuel element and forming arrow-shaped flat vanes, said triangular elements down toward the fins, and longitudinal backbones parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fuel element secured to and in contact with the outer edges of the fins supporting said deflecting elements, the longitudinal spacing of said deflecting elements being such that a cross section transverse to the longitudinal axis of the fuel elements includes two of said deflecting elements supported by the same backbone.
  • said backbones including lugs extending adjacent to the inner wall of the channel containing the fuel element and bearing on the wall for centering the fuel element.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • High Energy & Nuclear Physics (AREA)
  • Heat-Exchange Devices With Radiators And Conduit Assemblies (AREA)
US46491A 1959-08-13 1960-08-01 Thermal exchange of the fuel elements in nuclear reactor Expired - Lifetime US3179570A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR802766A FR1241855A (fr) 1959-08-13 1959-08-13 Nouveaux procédé et dispositifs d'extraction de chaleur des éléments combustibles de réacteurs nucléaires au moyen d'ailettes transversales
FR823516A FR77447E (fr) 1959-08-13 1960-04-06 Nouveaux procédé et dispositifs d'extraction de chaleur des éléments combustibles de réacteurs nucléaires au moyen d'ailettes transversales

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3179570A true US3179570A (en) 1965-04-20

Family

ID=26184292

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US46491A Expired - Lifetime US3179570A (en) 1959-08-13 1960-08-01 Thermal exchange of the fuel elements in nuclear reactor

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US3179570A (de)
BE (1) BE593730A (de)
CH (1) CH367575A (de)
FR (2) FR1241855A (de)
GB (1) GB955425A (de)
LU (1) LU39049A1 (de)
NL (1) NL254720A (de)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3368946A (en) * 1964-03-04 1968-02-13 Alfa Laval Ab Fuel assembly
US3402766A (en) * 1967-05-23 1968-09-24 Varian Associates Method and means for vapor cooling an electron tube
US3435891A (en) * 1967-03-23 1969-04-01 Int Rectifier Corp Air flow baffle for rectifier heat exchanger
US3787286A (en) * 1971-12-17 1974-01-22 Combustion Eng Fuel assembly flow redistribution
US4054487A (en) * 1974-06-04 1977-10-18 Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Nuclear fuel rods

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
LU37990A1 (de) * 1958-12-05
DE2255699A1 (de) * 1972-11-14 1974-05-16 Kernforschung Gmbh Ges Fuer Brennelement fuer einen reaktor
GB8431042D0 (en) * 1984-12-07 1985-02-13 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Gas cooled nuclear reactors
GB2168192B (en) * 1984-12-07 1989-08-31 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Gas cooled nuclear reactors
GB2208749B (en) * 1985-10-07 1989-09-13 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Gas cooled nuclear reactors

Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB258388A (de) *
US1925720A (en) * 1930-12-20 1933-09-05 Gen Fire Extinguisher Co Fin for heat exchanger
FR795938A (fr) * 1934-10-19 1936-03-25 Ig Farbenindustrie Ag Procédé pour chauffer des tubes de chauffage au moyen de gaz renfermant des poussières
US2406551A (en) * 1943-08-28 1946-08-27 United Aircraft Corp Cylinder cooling structure for aircraft engines
US2434519A (en) * 1942-04-18 1948-01-13 Raskin Walter Heat exchange conduit with a spiral fin having a capillary groove
US2874940A (en) * 1951-05-16 1959-02-24 Svenska Rotor Maskiner Ab Heat exchanger
GB816124A (en) * 1956-11-23 1959-07-08 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Improvements in or relating to fuel elements
GB817963A (en) * 1956-06-22 1959-08-06 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Improvements in or relating to heat transfer systems
GB821263A (en) * 1956-11-24 1959-10-07 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Improvements in or relating to fuel elements for nuclear reactors
GB821861A (en) * 1956-09-28 1959-10-14 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Improvements in or relating to heat transfer systems in nuclear reactor fuel elements
US2998228A (en) * 1956-11-23 1961-08-29 Huet Andre Surface heat exchangers

Patent Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB258388A (de) *
US1925720A (en) * 1930-12-20 1933-09-05 Gen Fire Extinguisher Co Fin for heat exchanger
FR795938A (fr) * 1934-10-19 1936-03-25 Ig Farbenindustrie Ag Procédé pour chauffer des tubes de chauffage au moyen de gaz renfermant des poussières
US2434519A (en) * 1942-04-18 1948-01-13 Raskin Walter Heat exchange conduit with a spiral fin having a capillary groove
US2406551A (en) * 1943-08-28 1946-08-27 United Aircraft Corp Cylinder cooling structure for aircraft engines
US2874940A (en) * 1951-05-16 1959-02-24 Svenska Rotor Maskiner Ab Heat exchanger
GB817963A (en) * 1956-06-22 1959-08-06 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Improvements in or relating to heat transfer systems
GB821861A (en) * 1956-09-28 1959-10-14 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Improvements in or relating to heat transfer systems in nuclear reactor fuel elements
GB816124A (en) * 1956-11-23 1959-07-08 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Improvements in or relating to fuel elements
US2998228A (en) * 1956-11-23 1961-08-29 Huet Andre Surface heat exchangers
GB821263A (en) * 1956-11-24 1959-10-07 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Improvements in or relating to fuel elements for nuclear reactors

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3368946A (en) * 1964-03-04 1968-02-13 Alfa Laval Ab Fuel assembly
US3435891A (en) * 1967-03-23 1969-04-01 Int Rectifier Corp Air flow baffle for rectifier heat exchanger
US3402766A (en) * 1967-05-23 1968-09-24 Varian Associates Method and means for vapor cooling an electron tube
US3787286A (en) * 1971-12-17 1974-01-22 Combustion Eng Fuel assembly flow redistribution
US4054487A (en) * 1974-06-04 1977-10-18 Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Nuclear fuel rods

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR1241855A (fr) 1960-09-23
GB955425A (en) 1964-04-15
BE593730A (fr) 1960-12-01
CH367575A (fr) 1963-02-28
NL254720A (de)
LU39049A1 (de) 1960-10-04
FR77447E (fr) 1962-03-02

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