Nuclear Engineering and Design 265 (2013) 967977

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Nuclear Engineering and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nucengdes

The effects of core zoning on optimization of design analysis of molten salt reactor
Zhangpeng Guo a,b , Chenglong Wang a,b , Dalin Zhang a,b, , Khurrum Saleem Chaudri a,b , Wenxi Tian a,b , Guanghui Su a,b , Suizheng Qiu a,b
a b

State Key laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xian Jiaotong University, China Department of Nuclear Science Technology, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian 710049, China

h i g h l i g h t s

1/8 of core is simulated by MCNP and thermal-hydraulic code simultaneously. Effects of core zoning are studied by dividing the core into two regions. Both the neutronics and thermal-hydraulic behavior are investigated. The at ux distribution is achieved in the optimization analysis. The at ux can lead to worse thermal-hydraulic behavior occasionally.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
The molten salt reactor (MSR) is one of six advanced reactor types in the frame of the Generation 4 International Forum. In this study, a multiple-channel analysis code (MAC) is developed to analyze thermal-hydraulics behavior and MCNP4c is used to study the neutronics behavior of Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE). The MAC calculates thermal-hydraulic parameters, namely temperature distribution, ow distribution and pressure drop. The MCNP4c performs the analysis of effective multiplication factor, neutron ux, power distribution and conversion ratio. In this work, the modication of core conguration is achieved by different core zoning and various fuel channel diameters, contributing to at ux distribution. Specically, the core is divided into two regions and the effects of different core zoning on the both neutronics and thermal-hydraulic behavior of moderated molten salt reactor are investigated. We conclude that the at ux distribution cannot always guarantee better performance in thermal-hydraulic perspective and can decreases the graphite lifetime signicantly. 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 18 April 2013 Received in revised form 19 September 2013 Accepted 26 September 2013

1. Introduction An 8 MWt graphite-moderated Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) was carried out in Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) from 1965 to 1969 (Guymon, 1973). Afterwards, a conceptual design of 1000 MWt Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (MSBR) was started but this work was terminated in design stage. Although the R&Ds in molten salt reactor (MSR) were stopped in 1970s in ORNL, but the R&Ds in the molten salt related technology never terminated. Some novel MSR concepts are proposed and molten salt technology is revisited. The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) selected molten salt reactor (MSR) among six advanced

Corresponding author at: State Key laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xian Jiaotong University, China. Tel.: +86 29 82665607; fax: +86 29 82665607. E-mail address: dlzhang@mail.xjtu.edu.cn (D. Zhang). 0029-5493/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2013.09.036

reactor. It is primarily designed for missions in electricity production and waste burn-down. The advantages of the MSR is obvious that as follows: the inherent safety without risk of core melting, on-line reprocessing, lower-pressure primary cooling loop (Luzzi et al., 2010), the high temperature facilitates hydrogen production (Forsberg, 2005), the MSR can be designed either in a thermal-spectrum thoriumU233 breeder cycle or in a fastspectrum MSRs fueled with plutonium and even minor actinides from light-water reactor (LWR) (Forsberg et al., 2007). Besides, some new technologies contribute to the renewable interest in the MSRs, namely Brayton cycle, compact heat exchangers, ceramic material (Forsberg, 2005; Sabharwall et al., 2011). Briey, most R&Ds are devoted to two major kinds of MSRs. One category is represented by the design of reactor that abandons the graphite moderator in favor of the empty cylinder tank, such as molten salt advanced reactor transmuter (MOST MOSART, 2004), thorium molten salt reactor (TMSR) (Auger et al., 2008), molten salt fast reactor (MSFR) (Mathieu et al., 2009), evaluation

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Nomenclature A d f Gm hm L M N Nu n P Pr Qg R Re r T t z
m

cross section area of graphite channel (m2 ) diameter of graphite channel (m) frictional factor mass ux (kg/m2 s) enthalpy (J/kg) length of control volume (m) mass ow rate (kg/s) number of axial control volume Nusselt number number of graphite channel pressure drop (pa) Prandtl number volumetric heat source (W/m3 ) equivalent radius (m) Reynolds number radial position (m) temperature (K) time (s) axial position (m) heat transfer coefcient (W/(m2 K)) heat conductivity coefcient (W/(m K)) fuel salt density (kg/m3 ) surface fraction included in the channel macroscopic cross-section

Subscripts m molten salt g graphite total T i axial control volume number graphite channel identier j

considered is this work. On the other hand, one group neutron diffusion theory is used to search certain core zoning for optimization of FUJI to atten ux distribution (Honma et al., 2008). However, only at ux distribution is investigated based on one kind of core zoning, regardless of thermal hydraulic study as well as other neutronics behavior. Actually, the merely achievement of at ux distribution is not sufcient for optimization analysis and thermal hydraulic study should be performed since the one major purpose of at ux is to reduce the maximum temperature and increase the average outlet temperature by decreasing hot channel factor. Besides, the graphite lifetime, conversion ratio, and temperature feedback coefcient need to be investigated. In this study, the MSRE is chosen because of its detailed design data and this work can be extended to other graphite moderated MSR. An optimization analysis of MSRE is implemented based on different core-zoning method and varying diameter of fuel channel. Besides, a multiple-channel analysis code (MAC) (Guo et al., 2013) is developed to analyze thermal-hydraulics behavior like ow distribution, the pressure drop and the temperature distribution of fuel salt and graphite moderator bars. MCNP4c code is employed to analyze the neutronics behavior, namely effective multiplication factor of reactor, neutron ux, power distribution, conversion ratio and feedback coefcients. In terms of this work, rst, the core is divided into two regions. Second, the scope of inner region is changed in six cases. Third, the diameter of fuel channels in the inner region are adjusted, with outer region unchanged. A separate code is developed to adjust the geometry parameters of MAC and input card of MCNP4c simultaneously. The effects of optimization work from core zoning on the multiplication factor, the ux distribution, power distribution, the power peak factor, conversion ratio, reactivity coefcient, the hot channel factor, graphite lifetime and maximum temperature are investigated. At last the calculation results will be discussed in detail and some conclusions are made. 2. Reactor description

and Viability of Liquid Fuel Fast Reactor (EVOL) project (European 7th Framework Program, 2009). The other kind of molten salt reactor is characterized by the design with graphite moderator, such as FUJI led by Japan that is developed from molten salt breeder reactor (MSBR) concept design, the optimization work based on MSBR concept has been done make graphite-moderated MSR passively safe and a self-breeder reactor (Nagy et al., 2011, 2012), the multiphysics modeling has been used to the dynamic analysis of MSBR (Cammi et al., 2011). Furthermore, China has decided to revisit the technology in ORNL by launching Thorium MSR Project in 2011, creating an experiment reactor with graphite moderator at the rst stage. Obviously, the R&Ds in the molten salt reactor experiment (MSRE) still provide valuable experience for innovative MSRs concept. Furthermore, since there are comprehensive design data and experimental data of MSRE, the development of numerical analysis can be validated with references from MSRE. In terms of new concept reactor, one of the important goals concerning core design is to atten the ux distribution to reach higher energy output as well as deep burnup. In solid fuel reactor, the ux distribution is achieved by adjusting the fuel enrichment in the radial or axial direction (Huda et al., 2011; MacDonald et al., 2001). Although this technology is successfully used in solid fuel reactor and so much experience has been obtained, this method is hardly applied to molten salt reactor because of homogenous fuel enrichment in uoride salt. Nevertheless, the geometry of reactor can be adjusted to obtain different graphite to molten salt volume ratio, which inuences ux distribution, the graphite lifespan and breeding gain (Nagy et al., 2011, 2012). Although some neutronics behavior of graphite moderated reactor is investigated, optimization of at ux distribution as well as thermal hydraulic study is not

As is shown in Fig. 1 (Robertson, 1965), the fuel salt enters the ow distributor at the top of the vessel at 635 C. Then the fuel is distributed evenly around the circumference of the vessel and then ows downward between the wall and the core can. The fuel salt reaches the lower plenum and turns and ows upward through the graphite matrix with about 1140 channels in the core can. The outlet temperature of fuel salt is 663 C. It can be noted in Fig. 1 that the reactor vessel contains the graphite matrix which is an assembly of vertical graphite bars. Fission of U235 in the fuel occurs as it ows in the channels that are formed by grooves in the side of the graphite bars (Kedl, 1970). It is worth noting that the graphite moderator should be without cladding to obtain high breeding of conversion ratios (Robertson, 1965). Besides, thorium is about 35 times as abundant as uranium and it is the only nuclear fuel that allows the thermal breeding. Logically, the thorium tetrauoride is analyzed during this experiment (Haubenreich et al., 1964) to study breeding characteristic and it is a fundamental study of thorium fuel cycle. For primary study the effects of core zoning on breeding characteristic, molten salt with thorium tetrauoride (fertile material) and highly enriched U235 is used for analysis (Table 1) (Robertson, 1965). 3. Theoretical model 3.1. The model in MCNP It being a general-purpose, continuous-energy, generalizedgeometry code, the 3-D Monte Carlo N-Particle code MCNP4C is employed. The Monte Carlo method does not solve an explicit

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Fig. 1. Typical graphite core block arrangement and assembly of graphite bars in MSRE core.

equation like deterministic code, but records the individual particles in statistical method to obtain the answer. The application of the Monte Carlo is widely used in the analysis of fuel assembly as well as core design analysis. It can be used for the calculations of multiplication factor, reaction rates, neutron uxes and spectrum, power peaking factors, reaction rate distribution, and shielding (Briesmeister, 2000). In this work, the (Monte Carlo N-Particle) MCNP4c is used because its main capability of complex 3D geometries modeling and accurate resolution. The ENDF/B-VII library is employed in this work. It is worth noting that the delayed neutron precursors move toward the outlet due to fuel salt ow (Zhang et al., 2009b). However, the ow of fuel salt does not affect the neutron uxes signicantly under steady state condition (Zhang et al., 2009a). Thus it is reasonable to apply the MCNP code without modication of considering the fuel ow effect to analyze the MSRE in steady state simulation. The model of one-eighth core of MSRE in the MCNP is showed in Fig. 2. In terms of core zoning, the core is divided into two parts, namely inner core region and outer core region. The diameter of fuel channels is magnied in the inner core region. The vacuum boundary condition is used outside the vessel. The reecting surfaces are used for symmetry planes. In addition, some assumptions are made to simplify the modeling in the critical calculation. First, the rectangle channel is transformed to circular channel based on the same volume to reduce excess denition of surfaces for input card in MCNP. This change will not affect the neutron behavior in the core, nor will it affect the thermal-hydraulic behavior dramatically because of the small cross area of individual channel, namely 0.02 in equivalent diameter. Second, the control rods are assumed
Table 1 Fuel salt composition of MSRE. Composition Fuel salt (partially enriched uranium) ThF4 UF4 LiF BeF2 ZrF4 mol.% 1 0.4 70 23.6 5

to be withdrawn, and the core contains no ssion product poisons. Consequently, the control rod and the graphite samples are not taken into account. Third, there is no permeation of the graphite by the fuel. These assumptions companied by uniform temperature 649 C (1200 C) as well as uniform density of fuel and graphite are made in the ORNL report (Haubenreich et al., 1964). The geometry parameters in detailed are listed in Table 2. According to ORNL technical reports, three kinds of fuel salt were examined to study the nuclear characteristics of the reactor (Haubenreich et al., 1964; Robertson, 1965). Due to the similar neutron behavior of these fuel salt compositions, only one kind of fuel salt with composition of thorium tetrauoride is analyzed in this work. 3.2. The thermal-hydraulic model The multiple-channel analysis code (MAC) is based on the solution of the continuity, momentum, and energy transport equation of the fuel salt in the vertical, parallel array of heated channel connected only at plenum. As is shown in Fig. 3, there are 20 control volumes along the axial direction in each fuel channel as well as graphite moderator bar. The geometry representation is the same in both MAC and MCNP with same axial control volume number to satisfy geometry mesh overlay. The thermal-hydraulic parameters namely density, viscosity, velocity and entropy are stored in the boundary of each volume cell. Consequently, the inlet boundary is set on the bottom of the rst volume while the outlet boundary is set on the top of the last volume. The inner heat source from ssion in each volume is stored at the center of individual volume. Under steady-state condition, the governing equations are
Table 2 The geometry parameters of MSRE. Power Core Diameter Height Innlet temperature Outlet temperature Flow rate 8 MW 1.4 m 1.6 m 635 C 663 173 kg/s Graphite matrix Graphite bar size Equivalent diameter Graphite channel size Equivalent diameter Number of channels Graphite/molten salt (volume ratio) 0.051 m 0.051 m 0.058 m 0.0305 m 0.0102 m 0.02 m 1140 3.5

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Fig. 2. A cross sectional view of the 1/8 core MCNP model concerning core zoning.

Fig. 3. Fuel salt ow in vertical, parallel channel connected only at the plena of 1/8 core.

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discretized given uniform parameters in each control volume and constant cross-sectional area A, which yields the following numerical form: (A) Continuity equation:
n

Table 3 Semi-empirical correlations for the calculation of Nusselt number. Re Re < 1000 3500 < Re < 12,000 Re > 12,000 Correlation Nu = 1.89[Re Pr (D/L)] ( / s) Nu = 0.107(Re2/3 135)Pr 1/3 ( / 0.14 Nu = 0.0234Re0.8 Pr 1/3 ( / s )
0.33 0.14 s) 0.14

Deviation (%) 6.6 4.1 6.2

Gmj Aj = MT
j=1

(1) (Cooke and Cox, 1973). Due to the laminar ow in the graphite channel (Robertson, 1965), the Darcy formula for the friction coefcient f in the HagenPoiseuille ow is adopted (Marcello et al., 2008).
N

(B) Momentum equation:

N

Pj =
i =1 N

m,ji gdz

+
i=1

fj Gm,ji |Gm,ji | 2Dj 1

m,ji m,ji

3.3. Optimization of core design The basic optimization of core design is to atten the ux distribution. The at ux distribution contributes to the high burnup, especially high power output by increasing the average outlet temperature. In the pressure water reactor or other solid fuel reactors, the enrichment of fuel is varying along the radial direction to atten the peak ux (Huda et al., 2011). Besides, some supercritical water cooled reactor concepts use different enrichment of fuel pellet along axial direction to atten the deforming ux caused by sharp decrease of moderator density (MacDonald et al., 2001). However, since the molten salt is fuel as well as coolant in the primary loop, it is not possible to atten the ux by arranging fuel of different enrichment along the axial and radial direction. To the contrary, the enrichment of fuel salt is identical in the core. As a result, at ux distribution is achieved by changing diameter of fuel channels along the radial direction. There exist some factors with regards to this optimization work. First, the core region is divided into two regions and the area of inner region should be decided. Second, as the enrichment of fuel salt remain the same in the core, only the diameter of fuel channel can be adjusted to obtain different graphite to molten salt volume ratio in certain region. Third, since the diameter of fuel channel will affect the mass ow distribution of molten salt in the core, the maximum temperature may not be in the innermost region as well as may increase in some cases with at ux, which will be discussed in Section 4. If the inner core has a high fraction of fuel salt and low fraction of graphite, the inner core has lower moderator capability than that of outer core. This effect contributes to the at ux distribution. Besides, considering that the fuel salt that also serves as coolant as well as ssile fuel, if the fraction of fuel salt increases in the inner core, not only will it decrease the moderator capability of inner core and harden the spectrum but also provides more coolant in the inner core simultaneously. Consequently, the maximum temperature decreases when power distribution is at. Thus the optimization work based on such theory makes sense because the main purpose of this optimization work is to obtain high power output. If the maximum temperature drops, the power can be increased more under the same condition. In terms of core zoning, the theoretical value of optimum area of inner region in the core is obtained by assuming a bare critical reactor in a cylindrical shape (Honma et al., 2008). The diameter of inner core is about eight tenth of diameter of core from this simple assumption. In this work, more kinds of core zoning are investigated. As is shown in Table 4, six cases with different diameters of inner core are chose in this work. Specically, in the case 2, the diameter of entire core is divided in two equal parts. In the case 5, the diameter of inner core is obtained by assuming that total volume of inner core is equal to that of outer region of core. In the last case 6, the diameter of inner core is eight-tenth of diameter of core, which is from one energy neutron diffusion theory (Honma et al., 2008). The other cases are obtained by increasing the diameter of inner core by every 0.1 m between case 1 and case 6. Afterwards, in optimization analysis, only the diameters of fuel channels in the

+
i =1

2 Gm,ji

1
m,ji

(2)

(C) Energy equation: Mji+1 hji+1 Mji hji z = ji qji+1 + qji 2

2 2 + (R2 R1 )Qg,ji

(3)

It is worth noting that the third term in Eq. (3) is the heat transfer from the graphite to fuel salt. It can be derived from the following analytic solutions. In terms of each fuel channel surrounded by graphite bars, the fuel channel has been assumed to be an equivalent of a column of graphite blocks with a central channel, and the inner and outer radius is R1 and R2 respectively. In terms of heat conduction of graphite, the axial heat conduction is neglected. Second, symmetry boundary condition is assumed in the center line of each graphite bar and the third boundary condition is employed at the inner radius. Then heat conduction equation of graphite is as follows:

1 r

d dr

dTg dr

+ Qg = 0

(5)

dTg (r ) |R1 = (Tg (r )|r =R1 Tm ) dr dTg (r ) |R2 = 0 dr

(6)

(7)

where Qg is heat source of graphite. Based on the assumption that the heat exchanges between the fuel salt and adjacent graphite bar are derived from the heat ux at graphite channel surface, thus we have: Q (z )graphite = 2 R1
g

dTg,ji dr

|R1 =

2 2 (R2 R1 )Qg,ji

(8)

The temperature at the inner radius and outer radius of the column with a central channel are obtained respectively: Tg,ji |r =R1 = Tm,ji + Qg,ji 2 Qg,ji 2
2 R2

R1
2 R2

R1

(9)

Tg,ji |r =R2 = Tm,ji +

R1

R1

Qg,ji 2
g

2 R2 R1 2

2 ln + R2

r R1 (10)

The calculation of the heat transfer coefcient between the fuel salt and graphite is based on the semi-empirical correlations. As is shown in Table 3, the semi-empirical correlations are from the ORNL technical report range from different Reynolds number

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Fig. 4. The three-dimensional power distribution of case 3 varies with the increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core.

inner core are adjusted to obtain different graphite to molten salt volume ratios for further detailed analysis. 4. Results and discussion 4.1. The effect of various core zoning on neutronics behavior In each case of different cone zoning, the diameter of fuel channel of inner core is increased by every 10% (increasing factor) while
Table 4 Diameter of inner core in six cases. Scenario Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5 Case 6 Diameter of inner core (m) 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10

the diameter of fuel channels of outer core remains unchanged. The three-dimensional power distribution of certain case (case 3) is chosen for illustration, since the trends of power distribution in optimization process are approximately similar in each case. As is shown in Fig. 4, the power of inner core decreases with an increase in diameter of fuel channels. The Keff of inner core decreases because the graphite to molten salt volume ratio decreases. However, as is shown in Fig. 5, the fast ux (E > 52 keV) increases as the fuel channels of inner core become lager, meaning the spectrum tend to be hardened because of lack of moderator. To the contrary, it can be noted that thermal ux (E < 1 eV) decreases with the increasing factor of fuel channels in the inner core (Fig. 6), causing increasingly at power distribution. The peak fast ux increases with the increasing diameter of fuel channels in the inner core, indicating a more hardened spectrum. Meanwhile, the peak thermal ux decreases with the increasing diameter of fuel channels, illustrating that power distribution become at. Power peak factor is dened as the maximum power density divided by average power density. Fig. 7 shows the power

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Fig. 5. The fast ux in the radial direction varies with increasing factor of fuel channel of inner core along radial direction.

Fig. 8. The graphite lifetime as a function of increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases.

Fig. 6. The thermal ux in the radial direction varies with increasing factor of fuel channel of inner core along radial direction.

Fig. 7. The power peak factor as a function of increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases.

peak factor, a kind of at power indicator, as a function of increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases. The power peak factor decreases continually in six cases. However, if the area of inner core is small, namely case 1 and case 2, the power peak factor decreases slowly after certain turning point such as increasing factor 1.3 and 1.4 respectively. In terms of the other cases, the turning point is beyond increasing factor 1.5. The more area of inner core is, the larger the turning point is. In other word, it is not necessary to atten the power after the certain increasing factor because power peak factor may drops slower and the at power distribution is at expense of hardened spectrum caused by lack of moderator, shortening lifetime of graphite that will be discussed as follows. It can be noted that although the thermal ux or power distribution become at gradually, the corresponding hardened spectrum can decrease graphite lifetime unfortunately. The fast neutron can damage the graphite moderators, changing the microstructure and the bulk properties (Karthik et al., 2012). The mechanical properties of graphite may be deteriorated, causing permeability to salt and ssion products to increase (Mccoy et al., 1969). The structural deterioration of graphite leads to loss of impermeability and denable lifetime of graphite. Usually, the graphite can absorb fast neutron uences of 3 1022 n/cm2 (E > 50 keV) which are obtained from ORNL studies to current studies (Mitachi et al., 2007; Nagy et al., 2011, 2012; Robertson, 1965). The graphite lifetime is obtained as the fast neutron uences are divided by maximum fast ux (E > 50 keV). Fig. 8 shows graphite lifetime as a function of increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases. The graphite lifetime decreases signicantly with increasing factor of fuel channel, causing by harden neutron spectrum. Fig. 9 shows Keff as a function of increasing factor of fuel channel diameter of inner core in six cases. As the diameter of fuel channel in inner core increases, insufcient graphite moderators cause the Keff to decrease. It is shown in Fig. 9 that Keff decreases more sharply in case 6 because the area of inner core is biggest among six cases, which is susceptible to the geometry change. As a result, the fuel of more enrichment is needed to guarantee critical operation when the power distribution becomes at. In addition, it is very important to make sure that the modication of core geometry can guarantee the inherent safety characteristic. Table 5 shows the total temperature feedback coefcients in six cases. The Doppler Effect and density effect are both considered in this calculation. It can be noted that the total temperature feedback coefcients are all negative in six cases, so adjustment of geometry in this optimization

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Table 5 The total temperature feedback coefcient (pcm/K) as a function of increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases. Case 1 (0.60 m) 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 5.28 4.92 5.89 3.28 4.94 4.17 Case 2 (0.70 m) 5.28 4.25 4.50 5.25 5.81 5.72 Case 3 (0.80 m) 5.28 4.64 6.56 4.53 6.17 5.64 Case 4 (0.90 m) 5.28 3.56 6.14 5.67 4.86 5.39 Case 5 (1.0 m) 5.28 3.36 4.36 8.81 4.75 6.25 Case 6 (1.10 m) 5.28 7.12 5.69 5.73 7.39 6.92

Fig. 9. The Keff as a function of increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases.

Fig. 11. The maximum temperature of graphite as a function of increasing factor of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases.

work is within the range of inherent safety characteristic of the reactor. Furthermore, as is shown in case 6, the negative temperature coefcient is larger than other cases because the inner core of case 6 is biggest. Consequently, the Doppler Effect is more evident, since the core become more homogenous. In order to increase the safety marginal, the bigger fuel channel should be adopted. Since the molten salt reactor can be designed as breeder reactor based on thorium fuel cycle, the thorium tetrauoride is examined as one kind of fuel salt according to ORNL technical report (Haubenreich et al., 1964), which is the rst and the only thoriumbased MSR in the word. The rst experiment of MSRE ran with partially enriched uranium because of fewer uncertainties toward chemical behavior of fuel salt. Later the highly enriched uranium fuel was used and nally the thoriumuranium fuel was adopted (Robertson, 1965). In the conversion chain of Th232 to U233, the

Pa233 is formed as intermediate, which has a relatively longer halflife (27 days) as compared to Np239 in the uranium fuel cycle thereby requiring longer cooling time of at least one year for completing the decay of Pa233 to U233 and it is essential to separate Pa from spent fuel solution (IAEA, 2005). In the beginning of life, regardless of burnup effect and intermediate production of Pa233 and U233, given that all the Pa233 can decay to U233, the conversion ratio (CR) can be dened as: CR =
(n, )

(U238 ) + (U235 ) +

(n, )

(Th232 ) (U235 ) (11)

(n,f )

(n, )

Table 6 shows the conversion ratio (CR) of beginning of life (BOL) as a function of increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases. In the beginning of life, it can be noted

Fig. 10. The Hot channel factor as a function of increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases.

Fig. 12. The maximum temperature of fuel salt as a function of increasing factor of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases.

Z. Guo et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 265 (2013) 967977 Table 6 The conversion ratio as a function of increasing factor of diameter of fuel channels in the inner core for six cases. Case 1 (0.60 m) 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 0.7549 0.78378 0.81555 0.84803 0.8826 0.91581 Case 2 (0.70 m) 0.7549 0.79464 0.83726 0.88139 0.92511 0.97062 Case 3 (0.80 m) 0.7549 0.80383 0.85538 0.90896 0.96077 1.01478 Case 4 (0.90 m) 0.7549 0.81184 0.86975 0.93029 0.99163 1.0539 Case 5 (1.0 m) 0.7549 0.8202 0.88589 0.95502 1.02398 1.09245

975

Case 6 (1.10 m) 0.7549 0.82714 0.9012 0.97667 1.05251 1.12885

that conversion ratios increase with the increasing factor in the inner core. Besides, as the MSRE is not a breeder reactor, most of the conversion ratios in various cases are below 1.0. However, it is obvious that the optimization design making power distribution

at contributes to higher conversion ratio. In each cases the bigger the fuel channel is, the higher the CR become. Furthermore, the larger area the inner core with bigger channel is, this higher the CR is.

Fig. 13. The positions of hottest channel vary with increasing factor in different cases.

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4.2. The effect of various cone zoning on thermal-hydraulic behavior Fig. 10 shows the hot channel factor in six cases. The hot channel factor is dened as the maximum enthalpy rise divided by average enthalpy rise, indicating the degree of homogeneous temperature rise. Specically, the lower hot channel factor means the temperature rise is more uniform in the core. Thus the power output can be increased which is important for core design. It can be noted from Fig. 10 that the hot channel factors decrease with the increasing factor of fuel channel of inner core. However, the hot channel factors decrease slowly after certain increasing factors, which can be regarded as turning point. This is because more fuel salt acts as coolant goes through the center zone with larger channels, leaving less fuel salt cooling peripheral fuel channels. By contrast, if the power peak factor of solid fuel reactor drops, max temperature of fuel or coolant will decrease continually. However, in terms of liquid fuel reactor, although the power peak factor decreases continually, the temperature of peripheral fuel channel may increases caused by insufcient supply of coolant. The smaller of inner core area is, the less the turning point is. Consequently, this phenomenon of liquid fuel reactor is obviously different from that of other solid fuel reactor, which should be given enough emphasis. From Fig. 11, the maximum temperature of graphite drops with increasing factor of fuel channel of inner core. Fig. 12 shows the maximum temperature of fuel salt as a function of increasing factor of fuel channel of inner core. It can be noted that the trends of curves from Figs. 1012 are similar to each other. From Figs. 11 and 12, the maximum temperature does not decrease continually. There exist certain increasing factors, which are turning points for curves in each case. After the turning point, the maximum temperature increases slowly, regardless of consistent decrease of power peak factor. The smaller the inner core area is, the less the turning point is. The turning point of case 6 is beyond increasing factor 1.5. With diameter of fuel channels in the inner core increasing, surrounding fuel channels lack sufcient coolant. In order to illustrate this phenomenon clearing during optimization process, the position of hottest channel in six cases with different increasing factor is shown in Fig. 13. It can be noted from Fig. 13 that the hottest channels move from the innermost fuel channel to outer ones when the size of fuel channels in inner core increases, especially they tend to concentrate around boundary region between the inner core and outer core when ambient channels lack coolant. This phenomenon is not obvious in case 6 with the biggest inner core area because the bigger area the inner core is the larger the. As a result, turning point is not reached for case 6. It is a special characteristic for molten salt reactor because the at power distribution cannot always guarantee a more homogenous temperature distribution and reduce efciently the maximum temperature continually. In other words, the mass ow distribution of fuel salt cannot always match the at power distribution. 5. Conclusions Based on MSRE design, the core is divided into two regions. The parametric calculations are implemented by adjusting the area of inner core as well as the diameter of fuel channels in the inner core. The thermal-hydraulic parameters are obtained by a multiplechannel analysis code (MAC). The MCNP calculates the neutronics behavior. Some main conclusions can be drawn as follows: (1) When the diameter of fuel channels in the inner core increases, the power distribution is attened. The maximum fast ux increases while the peak thermal ux decreases in the inner core.

(2) The graphite lifetime decreases when the power distribution becomes at. The at power distribution contributes to higher conversion ratio. In each case, the bigger the fuel channel is, the higher the CR is. Furthermore, the larger area the inner core with bigger channel is, this higher the CR is. (3) In terms of liquid fuel reactor, although the power peak factor decrease continually, the hot channel factor, maximum temperature of fuel and graphite increase after certain increasing factor of fuel channel (turning point) in optimization process. Furthermore, the bigger the range of inner core is, the larger the turning point is. The optimization work make senses if the increasing factor of fuel channels in the inner core is below the turning point. Otherwise at power distribution is meaningless because the maximum temperature increases and lifetime of graphite is reduced signicantly. (4) The at power distribution and at temperature distribution should be considered simultaneously in terms of optimization core design in the future work. Because the at power distribution can guarantee high burnup of fuel and the at temperature distribution is also necessary to increase the thermal output of the power. Consequently, a balance between at power distribution and at temperature distribution should be struck in the next stage.

Acknowledgments The support from Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant Nos. 91026023 and 11105103) and National Magnetic Connement Fusion Science Program (2010GB111007).

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